Colorado picking up the tab for abortion bans in other states, Cobalt says

Data from one reproductive rights group confirms that abortion providers in Colorado who were expecting a surge of patients coming from other states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade were right.

On Monday, Cobalt announced that its abortion fund had provided funding for procedures to 140 people between June 24 (the day of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling) and July 31, totaling about $47,985, which staff members said is a much higher level of support than is typical. In the week following the ruling, Cobalt helped with 88 procedures.

Cobalt also helps people with what they call “practical support,” which includes travel expenses such as flights and gas, child care and hotel room costs.

Between June 24 and Aug. 11, the organization provided practical support funding to 315 people, totaling $101,056. Some of the clients who received practical support overlapped with those who received procedural support.

The data show that 66% of clients came from Texas, 6% from Colorado and 5% from Alabama.

“Colorado is literally picking up the emotional, medical and financial tab for abortion bans in other states,” spokesperson Laura Chapin told The Denver Post.

In all of 2021, Cobalt assisted 34 people with practical support, compared with 371 people in 2022, Chapin said. The group helped 1,154 people in 2021, with the fund providing $206,511 to patients — $6,054 was in practical support. In the first half of 2022, Cobalt spent $152,536 on procedures alone.

Cobalt has averaged about 1,000 clients a year but expects that to be much higher in 2022, Abortion Fund Director Amanda Carlson said.

A first-trimester abortion can cost between $400 and $600, and Cobalt will often help with half the cost of the procedure, according to the group. Later-term pregnancies, something that isn’t unusual for patients who have to travel from out of the state, are more expensive, Chapin wrote in a memo.