A Good Bill Before the Colorado Assembly – Except for Two Poison Pills

I testified last month on HB26-1309 (“Abuse in Cases of Separation”) before the Colorado House Judiciary Committee. The bill aims to address legitimate problems in marital separations but contains two unconstitutional clauses - what I call “poison pills.” Because of those, I urged a “No” vote (along with dozens of other people). I have testified on 20 Bills in the last three years, and for the first time, one Democrat voted in agreement with our ethical position. But the measure still advanced, by a vote of 6–5. For the other 19 Bills, all Democrats voted in lockstep with their leadership against moral and ethical alternatives that were proposed. The bill next moves to the Colorado Senate, where I plan to testify again, trying to convince state senators to remove the unconstitutional provisions and make it a truly good law.
The valuable part of HB26-1309 is its requirement for careful scrutiny when domestic violence is alleged in a marital separation. If a preponderance of evidence reveals violence, it would not be in a child’s best interests to give custody to that parent. Several witnesses shared painful experiences of abuse during separation and supported the measure. Protecting victims is unquestionably worthy. However, the Bill calls two constitutionally protected activities domestic violence. The constitutionally protected activities include prohibiting the free exercise of religion because the Bill says that “preventing access to reproductive healthcare is considered health-related abuse.” Thus, if a father attempts to protect a pre-born baby for sincerely held religious beliefs, it’s classified as domestic violence by this Bill - poison pill one. That provision violates the First Amendment free-exercise-of-religion clause. That dooms this Bill to Judicial reversal because that is exactly what happened on two other bills struck down judicially. For example, SB23-190, attempted to ban pregnancy centers like Bella Health from providing abortion-pill-reversal health care. On August 1, 2025, Federal Judge Domenica issued a permanent injunction against that law because “There is no question whether it burdens Bella Health's free exercise of religion.” (tinyurl.com/freexerciseofreligion). Five months later, Colorado had to pay $5.4?million in fees to Bella’s attorneys (tinyurl.com/coloradopaysmillions).

A second flaw in HB26-1309 is revealed when it classifies as “coercive control” any parent monitoring their child’s “access to services.” Under this provision, any parent declining to affirm a child’s transgender identity could lose custody - poison pill two. The Constitution says Congress may not abridge free speech. This parallels another Colorado law that was struck down—the 2019 measure “Prohibit Conversion Therapy for a Minor”, which the nearly unanimous Supreme Court invalidated last month, stating that “the First Amendment stands as a shield against any effort to enforce orthodoxy in thought or speech.”

That 2019 conversion therapy law and HB26-1309 both threaten people who refuse to affirm a child’s transgender identity. We don’t know what Colorado’s litigation costs for the 2019 Conversion Therapy law will be. But since it went all the way to the Supreme Court, it will be on the order of tens of millions of dollars more than the $5.4 million already imposed. Colorado is facing an existing budget shortfall exceeding $1?billion, and passing this bill invites more financial harm. Passing it despite two clear constitutional precedents reminds one of the old maxim: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

To avoid this insanity, I urged the House Judicial Committee to vote “NO” on HB26-1309 so Colorado taxpayers don’t keep having to pay litigation fees for unconstitutional provisions. But we must stop calling religious freedom and free-speech “domestic violence,” which is what this Bill currently does.

Call to Action: You can contact your own Colorado Senate or House member at leg.colorado.gov/find-my-legislator (where you enter your address). Those wishing to be more actively involved can ask the five Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee members to remove the two unconstitutional provisions of HB26-1309 and avoid costly litigation at mike.weissman@coleg.gov, katie.wallace@coleg.gov, nick.hinrichsen@coleg.gov, dylan.roberts@coleg.gov, lindsey.daugherty@coleg.gov. You may cut and paste any part of this article to these five state senators.

Email feedback about this article to lloydbenes50@gmail.com
Lloyd Benes is a retired engineer residing in Loveland, Colorado.