A Colorado representative introduced a bill Wednesday that would make bringing a minor from another state to Colorado for abortion or gender-affirming care a crime.
Introduced by Rep. Scott Bottoms, a Colorado Springs Republican, House Bill 25-1145 would add a provision in Colorado statute that says a person, corporation, or government agency commits felony human trafficking if they bring a minor to Colorado to receive an abortion or gender-affirming care.
The bill likely won’t make it far in the Democratic-controlled Colorado Legislature. Bottoms is the bill’s sole House sponsor, and it has no Senate sponsorship
Idaho in 2023 became the first state to outlaw “abortion trafficking,” which it defined as “recruiting, harboring or transporting” a pregnant minor to get an abortion or abortion medication without parental permission. In May 2024, Tennessee enacted a similar law. And Republican lawmakers in Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma introduced abortion trafficking bills, although those bills failed to advance before their legislative sessions ended.
Bottoms announced this month that he is running for Colorado governor in 2026.
Bottoms’ bill says that in any case brought in relation to the bill, a minor consenting to traveling for and receiving abortion or gender-affirming care would not be a permissible defense. A defendant also could not claim they did not know the minor was under 18 years old or believed the minor was 18 years old.
The House Judiciary Committee will review the bill, though a hearing date has not been set.
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