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Senate committee advances bill to remove statutes allowing court‑ordered sterilization of people with disabilities
Summary
House Bill 1040 would eliminate Colorado statutes that allow sterilization over a person’s objection and return such decisions to ordinary medical‑decision frameworks; the Health Committee advanced the bill as amended 9–0 and added it to the consent calendar.
The Senate Health & Human Services Committee advanced House Bill 1040, which would remove statutory provisions permitting court‑ordered sterilization of people with disabilities and restore decisions about sterilization to standard medical decision‑making processes.
Senator Cinder Cutter, sponsor of the bill, said Colorado statutes retain “eugenics era concepts” that allow a person with a disability to be sterilized over their objection and that HB 1040 would remove those provisions and return affected cases to usual medical‑decision frameworks.
Supporters included disability advocates, legal counsel and medical professionals. Molly Kirkham, a policy advocate with The Arc chapter and a person with an intellectual or developmental disability, said the bill restores dignity and choice, arguing that people with disabilities should not be treated as perpetrators or denied parental autonomy. Jack Johnson, an attorney at Disability Law Colorado, described the statute as a relic of eugenics and said the bill would align Colorado with modern medical‑decision rules and supported‑decision frameworks.
Nathan Fisher of the Colorado Catholic Conference and Dr. Michael Neal also testified in support, each recounting personal or policy reasons to preserve reproductive autonomy for people with disabilities. Melanie Jordan read testimony for the Office of Respondent Parents Council, noting roughly half of the parents their office represents have some form of disability and urging autonomy for parents.
The sponsor moved a cleanup amendment (L6) to revise language about imminent risk; the committee adopted the amendment without recorded opposition. Senator Cutter moved HB 1040 to the Committee of the Whole as amended; roll call recorded unanimous committee support (9–0). The sponsor then requested and the committee agreed to add the bill to the consent calendar.
