Coloradans voted for a ballot measure that would repeal the state’s ban on public funding for abortions, exceeding the 55 percent mark needed in the state, according to a projection by Decision Desk HQ.  

Abortion is already legal throughout pregnancy in Colorado. But the right to an abortion was not yet guaranteed by the state’s constitution. 

“Putting that into our constitution — I think that is really showing our state and people in our state want to continue to lead the way on progressivism,” said Dusti Gurule, president of Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, which campaigned for the measure.

The state also previously prohibited use of state funds to pay for abortions, which in turn prevented public insurance programs — such as state health insurance, or Medicaid, which insures low-income people — from covering the procedure.  

By eliminating the state’s ban on public funding, the new constitutional amendment opens the door for more Colorado health plans to cover the cost of an abortion, which can be hundreds or even thousands of dollars. 

Gurule said she estimated close to a million people in the state could stand to benefit from those insurance changes.

In the years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Colorado has emerged as a destination for people seeking abortions — particularly people from nearby Texas and Oklahoma, where the procedure is almost entirely illegal.