One year post Roe v. Wade, Colorado an island, and division over rights "will never end"

Nearly a year ago, on June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.

The high court ruled that elected officials – at the state and federal level – have the authority to regulate abortion.

A few months earlier in 2022, abortion rights were codified into Colorado state law.

The restricting of abortion rights in other states has brought patients from around the country to Colorado clinics.

Yet abortion opponents here aren't giving up efforts to change minds and ban the practice.

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains CEO Adrienne Mansanares travels around Colorado and a four-state region.

These days 38% of their abortion care patients come from out of state.

She told us, "We have a responsibility and a duty to be providing health care right now for our local communities and for people driving long distances. But we're just one piece of that. This work is forever, it will never end."

Mansanares has had a lot of time to think about the impact of the court's landmark ruling a year ago.

She believes Coloradans are overwhelmingly committed to remaining a beacon for reproductive rights, saying, "we've had ballot initiatives time and time again, that had been very clear that voters believe that we should have access to legal abortion care across the state."

Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs has launched a multimillion dollar campaign called "It's a Baby." 

In the ad a woman looking at the results of a pregnancy test declares, "We're having a fetus!"

The campaign, explains Focus on the Family spokesperson Nicole Hunt, aims to shift the conversation.

Hunt said, "we have a double standard when it comes to how we address life in the womb, based on whether or not the baby is wanted or unwanted… those babies are valuable and they are worthy of protection under the law. So, we are going to continue to push that cultural narrative."

Hunt works to oppose what she calls a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

She added, "when women have a moment to take a break, and take a breath and be able to see what is in their womb, where they make those decisions, many times women will choose life."

The country's political division post Roe is putting more pressure on Colorado to handle care.

Planned Parenthood's Mansanares spends lots of time thanking donors offering support.

"Over half of our patients seeking abortion care are already parents, and they want to get home to their kiddos," she said.

2020 data on abortions in Colorado from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 82% of abortions here are conducted in the first nine weeks of pregnancy.  And 71% are managed via medications rather than surgical procedures.