November 13, 2025 08:07 AM UTC

And Now, A Back-Door Assault On Colorado's Abortion Rights

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• by: Colorado Pols

As 9NEWS’ Jaleesa Irizarry reports, now that the federal government has re-opened without a deal to extend the health insurance premium tax credits that make coverage affordable for millions of Americans, negotiations over such an extension which in theory has enough bipartisan support to easily pass are getting underway.

With Republicans aware they now have the upper hand:

Congressional Republicans are demanding tougher abortion-related conditions in exchange for extending Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, a move that could affect access to reproductive care in states like Colorado despite abortion rights being enshrined in the state constitution.

The negotiations follow the impending end to the government shutdown and could impact more than 80,000 Coloradans who rely on enhanced premium tax credits to afford health insurance through the ACA marketplace, according to Vanessa Martinez, vice president of policy with COLOR Latina, a reproductive rights advocacy group…

Currently, federal funds cannot cover abortions except in very limited circumstances covered by the Hyde Amendment. However, according to Martinez, states like Colorado will soon offer the care for those with ACA and state health plans through state funds and insurance carrier requirements. Republicans want to change that.

As NBC News’ Sahil Kapur reports, Republicans are feeling emboldened after ending the shutdown standoff without a deal on the principal objective sought by Democrats, and just can’t imagine agreeing to them now without a sweetened pot:

“That’s what we’re going to negotiate,” Thune told reporters before the Senate passed the bill to end the government shutdown. “A one-year extension along the lines of what [Democrats] are suggesting, and without Hyde protections — there’s just not even, doesn’t even get close.”

The problem is, the restrictions on state funds Republicans want go well beyond the longstanding Hyde Amendment that prevents federal funds from being spent on abortion care:

Katie Keith, a Georgetown Law professor and founding director of its Center for Health Policy and the Law, said existing law bans any federal funds from flowing to abortion care through ACA plans, including the premium tax credits and cost-sharing reduction payments, consistent with the Hyde amendment.

States have the option to create separate revenue streams where enrollees can pay a surcharge to gain abortion coverage through their plans. Twenty-five states ban abortion coverage through ACA marketplaces entirely. The rest are split between requiring it through additional state funding or deferring to insurers.

Still, even for states that allow ACA plans to cover abortion, “there are strict segregation requirements,” Keith said. “Since the law was enacted, no federal funds flow toward abortion care.”

In short, what Republicans want is to impose federal hostility toward abortion rights on states that still protect abortion rights, which flies in the face of Republican defense after the highly unpopular overturning of Roe v. Wade that states would now be allowed to set policy themselves. Colorado Republicans like Rep. Gabe Evans who try to downplay their “personal” opposition to abortion by hiding behind “state’s rights” in the post-Roe era have to explain why Republicans now want the federal government to dictate abortion policy in the states.

Everyone knows the answer, of course. But the moment may be approaching when they finally have to admit it.