Trafficking Minor for Abortion or Transgender Care
HB1145 would create a new criminal offense in Colorado law for “human trafficking of a minor for abortion or gender-affirming health-care services.” As introduced, the bill makes it a class 2 felony for any person, including a corporation or governmental agency, to transport an out-of-state minor into Colorado for the purpose of helping that minor obtain an abortion or gender-affirming health-care services. The bill defines the conduct broadly and applies even if the minor consented, misrepresented their age, or the defendant did not know the minor was under 18.
The measure adds a new section to the Colorado Revised Statutes and would operate alongside existing abortion and gender-affirming care laws by creating a separate trafficking-related criminal penalty tied specifically to transporting minors across state lines for those services. It would not change the underlying legality of abortion or gender-affirming care in Colorado generally, but it would expose facilitators, transporters, and potentially organizations or public entities to felony prosecution if they assist an out-of-state minor in obtaining those services.
The bill appears to have faced strong opposition in committee. In House Judiciary, a motion to refer the bill to Appropriations failed 4-7, and the committee then voted 7-4 to postpone the bill indefinitely, effectively killing it. That voting pattern suggests the bill did not have majority support in committee and was controversial from the outset.
The main point of contention is the bill’s framing of assistance for abortion or gender-affirming care as human trafficking. Supporters of the bill are not reflected in the available transcripts, but the text indicates an intent to criminalize interstate transport for these services. Opponents likely viewed the proposal as an overbroad criminalization of medical access, especially because it would apply regardless of the minor’s consent or the transporter’s knowledge of age, and because it implicates abortion access and transgender health care in the same felony provision.
HB1145 would add a new criminal statute, section 18-3-504.5, to the Colorado Revised Statutes and classify the offense as a class 2 felony. It would expand the state’s human trafficking laws to cover transporting an out-of-state minor into Colorado for the purpose of obtaining an abortion or gender-affirming health-care services, and it would eliminate several common defenses related to consent and knowledge of age. The bill would affect individuals, organizations, corporations, and potentially governmental agencies that facilitate such travel, while leaving the underlying legality of abortion and gender-affirming care otherwise unchanged.
The available voting history indicates the bill was met with significant resistance and did not advance out of House Judiciary. The initial motion to send the bill to Appropriations failed, and the committee then voted to postpone the bill indefinitely, which suggests the prevailing sentiment was negative. No committee transcript is available, but the vote pattern shows the measure lacked sufficient support and was treated as highly controversial.
The central controversy is whether transporting a minor into Colorado to obtain abortion or gender-affirming care should be treated as human trafficking. Critics would likely object to the bill’s broad reach, its application to corporations and government agencies, and its removal of defenses based on consent, mistaken age, or misrepresentation. The bill also combines abortion and transgender-related medical care in one criminal provision, which likely intensified disagreement among lawmakers and stakeholders concerned about reproductive rights, transgender health access, parental authority, interstate travel, and criminal law overreach.