#283 Repeal Constitutional Right to Abortion – Signatures due 8-03-2026

Initiative #283 is an effort to strike Art. II, § 32 “Abortion” (Amendment 79 (2024)) from the Colorado

constitution which states:

The right to abortion is hereby recognized. Government shall not deny, impede, or discriminate against the exercise of that right, including prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortion.

The sponsoring 501c4 Colorado Life Initiative was approved to gather signatures on May 1 with a due date of August 3, 2026. This is half the time normally allocated to initiatives seeking a place on the November ballot.

The Colorado Catholic Conference, as the united voice of the Catholic bishops of Colorado, encourages individual parishes to determine their own participation in the signature collection efforts by Colorado Life Initiative for the initiative #283.

While the Colorado Catholic Conference was a leader in the initiative fighting against Amendment 79 and continues to advocate for a culture of life in Colorado, the effort by Colorado Life Initiative for 2026 initiative #283 has many shortfalls that will make it very unlikely to successfully make the November 2026 ballot and could hurt the pro-life movement in Colorado at this time for the following reasons:

- The time, infrastructure, and financial support needed to be successful is not present, which will make this another failed initiative and give more argument for the pro-abortion advocates that Colorado voters support abortion more than life-affirming measures (which data show untrue).

- Normally initiatives have six months to collect at least 124,238 valid signatures to secure the position on the November ballot. Because #283 was approved by Title Board late, it only has three months. This is impossible to meet this deadline without a large financial investment and professional signature collectors.

- Initiative #283 is an amendment to the Colorado constitution, which means it needs 55% of the vote to change the constitution. Statutory changes only need 50%. If #283 successfully makes ballot, it will need the campaign and financial infrastructure to be successful in November. This requires early planning and grassroots strategy. The Colorado Catholic Conference supports the repeal of Amendment 79, but the Colorado Bishops’ Catholic Conference is not in support or in opposition of initiative #283 due to political strategy. The Catholic Conference will continue to support laying the groundwork for a broader education campaign to ensure initiatives that both repeal Amendment 79 and are life-affirming will be successful in the near future.

See Colorado Catholic Conference position on Amendment 79 here: https://www.cocatholic.org/statement/cccamendment79

See the Colorado Catholic Conference’s video on the harms of Amendment 79 here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7bEhqOfPo8

See Colorado Catholic Conference executive director debate COBALT abortion advocates on Amendment 79

here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnprnoFB5dE