Colorado's Polis issues order to protect abortion access

Gov. Jared Polis barred state agencies Wednesday from arresting or extraditing anyone seeking or providing reproductive care in Colorado, where the right to abortion was codified in state law this year.

Polis issued an executive order that prohibits state agencies from cooperating with out-of-state civil or criminal investigations related to seeking, obtaining or providing reproductive health care — unless the alleged activity would be illegal in Colorado.

The Democratic governor also ordered the Department of Regulatory Agencies to develop rules designed to protect licensed professional workers who could face disciplinary action or the loss of a professional license due to potential sanctions imposed by another state.

Polis' order comes as other liberal governors vow to fight out-of-state law enforcement actions following the Supreme Court's June decision to revoke the constitutional right to abortion.

Polis also directed state agencies to work to "protect people and entities who are providing, assisting, seeking, or obtaining reproductive health care in Colorado."

Colorado was the first U.S. state to decriminalize abortion in 1967, and Polis this year signed into law a bill codifying that right.