(The Center Square) - Despite growing federal limitations on abortion, Colorado citizens will soon have better access to abortion pills.
Gov. Jared Polis signed off on a law this week to require universities keep abortion pills on supply at student health centers amid the raging national battle over abortion access.
“Colorado stands for freedom,” Polis told The Center Square, answering a question by email. “While politicians in other states are working to take away options and insert government into personal healthcare decisions, we are doing the opposite. Colorado is leading in protecting freedom, privacy, and expanding access to healthcare – not taking it away.”
Through the Abortion Medication Access on College Campuses law, House Bill 26-1335, colleges and universities in Colorado will be required to maintain a supply of abortion medications, except for under a few exceptions including “sincerely held religious beliefs or practices.”
Colleges or universities with student health centers will be required to provide abortion medication to all enrolled students starting August 2027. Schools with on-site pharmacies or other prescription outlets will keep a stock of abortion medications, and those without will keep the medication at an off-site pharmacy partner.
The law also bans universities from sharing personal identifiable information about student patient records if requested by another state, unless required by federal law or a court order.
The cross-state data sharing detail comes as some abortion-banning states have attempted to prosecute people for receiving abortion operations in other states. A February 2025 federal ruling told Alabama state leaders they could not enforce threats of felonies at women leaving the state for access to abortions.
Colorado’s new law also allows universities to back out of the abortion medication requirement if it would "jeopardize an institution’s federal grant participation.”
“Governor Polis has worked to protect abortion access throughout his Administration,” a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office told The Center Square. The spokesperson named a 2022 executive order the Governor signed that strengthened abortion access protections in Colorado and his membership in the Reproductive Freedom Alliance since 2023.
While the political and social argument over access to abortions is nothing new to the American public, the issue has gone through a whirlwind of change in recent years. The 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which made abortion access a constitutional right, has flipped the debate on its head.
Today, 13 states have implemented total abortion bans, with 10 more states enforcing shortened abortion access timelines, according to health policy research group the KFF.
More recently, the battle over abortion medications has taken the national stage as some states where abortion is now banned have argued the pills’ existence has threatened local bans, with telehealth and mailed medication expanding access. As of today, a temporary federal court order is in place to allow continued access to abortion medications, despite ongoing legal cases.
“Despite the Trump administration’s attempts to outlaw abortion entirely, Colorado remains a beacon for safe, legal and protected reproductive healthcare,” said bill sponsor Rep. Lorena García, D-Adams County, in a press release. García did not immediately respond to questions from The Center Square about the law’s passage.
The two abortion medications are mifepristone and misoprostol, which are pills often used together to end a pregnancy, according to Planned Parenthood. Medical abortions are generally effective up to 84 days after the first day of a woman’s last period, and are between 87% and 99% effective, depending on the number of doses and how soon after pregnancy the pills are taken.
Responding to The Center Square, Planned Parenthood’s Rocky Mountains chapter said it was unable to comment on the law’s passage in time for this story.
