Colorado-based abortion fund sees growing demand. Many are from Texas, where the procedure is restricted

DENVER – A Colorado abortion fund said Thursday it has helped hundreds of people access abortions in the early months of 2024, many of them arriving from Texas where abortion is restricted, showing a steady increase in need each year since Roe v.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision left a patchwork of bans, restrictions and state protections across the country. In response, an impromptu national network of individuals and organizations helps those seeking abortion in states where it is restricted, including the Colorado-based Cobalt Abortion Fund.

Cobalt provides financial support for practical expenses such as travel and lodging, and abortion procedures, and operates from the Democratic-led state that has firmly protected access to abortion, including for nonresidents.

Cobalt’s aid has already increased since Roe was overturned, from $212,00 in 2021 to $1.25 million in 2023. In Cobalt’s most recent numbers, the group spent $500,000 in the first three months of 2024 and expects to spend around US$2.4 million by the end of the year. to help people access abortion. This would nearly double last year’s support.

More than half of the 2024 spending went to about 350 people for hands-on support, not the procedure, and the vast majority of clients were from Texas.

“There’s this idea that the Dobbs decision and the subsequent bans, because of the triggering of bans, created a surge in volume, and now maybe that volume has slowed or kind of plateaued. That is not the case,” said Melisa Hidalgo-Cuellar, director of Cobalt.

“Volumes continue to increase each month,” she said.

Hidalgo-Cuellar says the steady increase is partly due to greater access to information on social media and new restrictions. Florida’s restriction took effect last week and bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant.

Colorado went in the opposite direction, becoming an abortion haven in a region of predominantly conservative states. Last year, the state passed a law that protects those who seek abortion, and those who perform it, from being prosecuted in other states where abortion is restricted, such as Florida.

Now, anti-abortion activists are testing the limits of these prohibitions in court. That includes a Texas man who is asking a court to authorize a murky legal move to find out who allegedly helped his ex-partner get an abortion out of state.

These out-of-state abortions are, in part, why Cobalt’s funding for hands-on support — particularly travel expenses — exceeded aid for the procedure itself.

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Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover undercovered issues.