Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette Works To Pass Women's Health Protection Act After Texas' Restrictive Abortion Law

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DENVER (CBS4/AP)- Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette is teaming up with other members of Congress to pass the Women's Health Protection act. This would guarantee the right of all Americans to access abortion care regardless of where they live.

(credit: CBS)

This comes after Texas passed a strict abortion ban. The Texas law, allowed to stand in a decision Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court, bans abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, typically around six weeks. In a highly unusual twist, enforcement will be done by private citizens who can sue anyone they believe is violating the law.

A Colorado clinic that already had started seeing more patients from other states was preparing to ramp up supplies and staffing in anticipation of the law taking effect.

The number of Texans seeking abortions in Planned Parenthood clinics in the Rocky Mountain region, which covers Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and southern Nevada, was 12 times higher that month. In California, 7,000 patients came from other states to Planned Parenthood clinics in 2020.