Colorado joined several other western states Wednesday in ruling out any extradition of individuals charged by other states with violation of anti-abortion statutes.
Gov. Jared Polis’ executive order cites the needs of the state’s economy and accuses the U.S. Supreme Court of making a mistake in overruling the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade and the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that guaranteed access to abortion services.
“This impending loss of freedom for people around the country poses a threat to the people of Colorado to the extent that other states may seek to infringe on essential rights protected by Colorado law, and impose criminal penalties or civil liability for conduct that is now outlawed in other states, but remains legal in Colorado,” Polis wrote.
The order forbids state agencies from providing medical records or billing information and from spending any public money or using state employees to assist another state in prosecuting a person for abortion services-related acts that are legal in the Centennial State. There is an exception if a court orders a state agency to cooperate.
Polis also directed the state’s Department of Regulatory Agencies to assure that licensed health care professionals are not subjected to discipline on the basis of another state’s law if they provide or assist in providing reproductive health care that is legal in Colorado.
The Democratic governor, who is seeking election to a second term in November, also said he would use his authority to resist extradition requests.
“I will exercise the full extent of my discretion to decline requests for the arrest, surrender, or extradition of any person charged with a criminal violation of a law of another state where the violation alleged involves the provision of, assistance with, securing of, or receipt of reproductive health care, unless the acts forming the basis of the prosecution of the crime charged would also constitute a criminal offense under Colorado law,” he wrote.
Colorado first enacted an abortion statute in 1967 that permitted the procedure under certain circumstances. During the 2022 legislative session the state’s General Assembly passed, and Polis signed, a bill that assures protection of the right to seek reproductive health care.
The Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, last month that a Mississippi statute that allowed abortions only during the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. The majority opinion by Republican appointee Samuel A. Alito, Jr. held that the U.S. Constitution contains no right to obtain an abortion at any time during pregnancy.
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