Colorado Dem says abortions save money, pushes taxpayer-funded procedures

An influential Colorado Democrat sees more taxpayer-funded abortions as smart fiscal policy.

Advocating for legislation that would guarantee state residents fund abortions for women enrolled in Medicaid and the Child Health Plan Plus program, House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, claimed more abortions would save the state money.

“A birth is more expensive than an abortion,” McCluskie said during a House Health & Human Services Committee hearing last week. “Ultimately, we do achieve a cost savings because of the averted births that will not take place.” 

But Dr. Catherine Wheeler, a former abortion provider who is now a pro-life OB-GYN, called McCluskie’s words “horrible” and “abominable,” during the committee hearing. 

“Seriously, the bill’s sponsors are saying that if more babies die by abortion, it will be cheaper for the state,” Wheeler told the committee. 

Dr. Thomas Perille, president of Democrats for Life of Colorado, disputed the abortion cost claim, telling the committee that McCluskie and Democrats like her vastly underestimate the cost of abortions. 

“The analysis is so simplistic that it insults the intelligence of lawmakers who earnestly wish to understand the implications of state funding,” he said, even calling it “fiscal malpractice.” 

The committee advanced the measure along party lines, setting it up for a House vote. It already passed 22-12 in the Democrat-led Senate earlier this month. 

The law would also force public sector employee health insurance plans to cover abortion without cost-sharing. 

The debate comes months after state voters strengthened abortion rights.  

A ballot question, which passed 62% to 38%, repealed the state’s constitutional ban on publicly funded abortion, which voters narrowly approved in 1984. Colorado allows for abortion for any reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy. 

The blue state has become increasingly extreme on abortion in recent years. 

Voters rejected a 22-week gestational limit on abortion at the ballot box in 2020. In 2022, lawmakers passed the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which stated unborn children had no independent rights. And one year later, the state banned the abortion-reversal pill. 

Brittany Vessely, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference, told National Review it’s hard to keep the state’s pro-life community motivated during these difficult times. 

“I think Pro-Life Colorado needs to focus on education initiatives and chipping away legislatively just to humanize” abortion victims, she said.