What would happen in Colorado if Roe v. Wade was overturned?

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - This week, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in a Mississippi court case that could reshape abortion rights across the United States, and possibly overturn Roe v. Wade. That has many in Colorado wondering what would happen to abortion access in our state.

Supreme Court oral arguments wrapped up Wednesday with the 6-3 conservative majority openly discussing what would happen if they rolled back the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, giving the ability to restrict or ban abortion to the states. That's causing Colorado lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to spring into action, but experts say not much would change in our state should the decades-old case be overturned.

"Colorado actually has some of the loosest abortion laws in the country," said Josh Dunn, Professor of Political Science at UCCS. "There are really no restrictions throughout the entire pregnancy. Really, the only restriction we have is that parents of minors have to be notified. We're one of only seven states, I believe, where there are no real restrictions. So with those laws on the books, they'll probably stay on the books.”

But this change of tone from the Supreme Court might energize pro-life groups to try and pass restrictions in the Colorado legislature, or put initiatives on the ballot.

Colorado Springs republican Congressman Doug Lamborn is already working on HR 6099. It's a bill that, if passed, would change the language used to describe pregnancy.

"It's 'Recognizing the Unborn Act,' and what it does is, it takes every time the word 'fetus' appears in the U.S. code and it replaces it with the phrase 'unborn child'," said Rep. Lamborn. "'Unborn child' is much more human. It's much more dignified. It shows the essential worth of the unborn person more than the word fetus does. So it's a powerful symbol that we recognize the dignity and the worth of the unborn."

Meanwhile, democrats like Congresswoman Meg Froelich, of Colorado's 3rd District, are working to solidify abortion rights in our state.

“We are very excited next session to bring the Reproductive Health Equity Act," said Rep. Froelich. "This is a piece of legislation that will ensure access to the full range of reproductive health care in Colorado, which includes abortion. While Colorado doesn't have restrictions, we fought off restrictions for many, many years, we also feel like now is the time to put protections in place."

Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains says even though Colorado’s access wouldn’t change, Roe v. Wade being overturned would put an immense strain on their clinics. A strain that they say already started when Texas Senate Bill 8, which restricts abortion, was passed in September.

"Now that Senate Bill 8 has passed in Texas as an example, our largest facility that's located over in the Park Hill area of Denver, saw like a 500 percent increase in Texas patients in the first few weeks after the law went into effect," said Vicki Cowart, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.

The influx of patients could lead to even longer delays in care for locals that make appointments at Planned Parenthood.

"Our health center staff get busier and busier," said Cowart. "We have been working to expand our capabilities for the last couple of years because we've been anticipating some of this. So, we are we can see more people today than we did two years ago. But nonetheless, it's filling our schedules and that means that if you're a Denver patient or Colorado Springs patient or a Durango patient, you might have to wait more than a week, might be a couple of weeks, before you can get in"

Planned Parenthood says they've been relying heavily on telehealth virtual appointments to serve patients quickly. Contraception, STI tests, and even abortion pills can be prescribed through a telemedicine appointment and mailed to a patient.

For now, things will stay the same across the country when it comes to Roe v. Wade. Even though the Supreme Court heard arguments on the Mississippi abortion case this week, we won’t have a decision from the justice until June or July.