According to a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito and leaked to Politico, the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The draft opinion repudiates the 1973 decision which guaranteed federally protected reproductive rights. The court’s decision will not be final until it is published, likely in the next two months. It would allow each state to decide whether to restrict or ban abortion. Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet released a statement, writing quote “I have long had concerns about the radical nature of this Supreme Court. If this draft opinion reflects the Court’s decision to overturn Roe, it represents an attack on a fundamental constitutional right enshrined in law for half a century. It would drag us into a past when women faced horrific risks to their lives because they lacked the freedom to make their own health care choices.” Governor Jared Polis also released a statement, writing quote, “While states like Texas, Florida, and Arizona are engaging in the unwelcome intrusion of government into deeply personal and religious decisions, Colorado remains a refuge where individual rights are respected and where any person has the ability to live, work, thrive, and raise a family on their own terms. In Colorado we will continue to fight for and respect the right to make decisions about your own body and medical health.” Last month, Polis signed a new law which codifies protections to ensure choice remains legal in Colorado. We were the first state to allow safe, legal abortion, signed into law by Republican Governor John Love all the way back in 1967.
Governor Polis signed legislation yesterday to make Juneteenth a State Holiday. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas to declare that enslaved Black people were free, two and a half years after the conclusion of the Civil War. The signing ceremony was held at the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance facility in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. A press release quoted Leslie Herod, Chairwoman of the Black Democratic Caucus saying, “Juneteenth has been celebrated by the Black community for generations. Beginning today the statewide holiday will receive all formal recognition, celebration and reflection it deserves.”
Tonight at 6:30 at Horsefly Brewing in Montrose, Dave Bowman hosts a Montrose Summer Music Series Lineup release party. He’s promising full band info, plus details on food vendors and transportation options to the brand new Montrose Amphitheater.
Meanwhile, Paonia Town Trustees heard from the North Fork Valley's most prolific concert promoter at their meeting last Thursday. Kate Redmond reports.
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Ben Katz is public lands program director for the Western Slope Conservation Center, based in the North Fork Valley. Their mission is to build an informed and engaged community to protect and enhance the lands, air, water and wildlife of the Western Slope of Colorado. He’s headed to the state capitol tomorrow and I asked him to tell us more about two bills he’s fired up about related to oil and gas accountability.
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