A recently introduced Colorado bill that has drawn sharp criticism from the state’s Catholic bishops could allow courts to factor a parent’s refusal to affirm a child’s “gender identity” into custody decisions and classify certain actions related to abortion as forms of abuse.
HB 1309, which addresses domestic violence standards in family court, passed Colorado’s House Judiciary Committee on a 6-5 party-line vote March 31 and now heads to the Appropriations Committee. Democratic state Reps. Meg Froelich and Tammy Story and Democratic state Sen. Katie Wallace sponsored the legislation.
If passed, the bill would define “coercive control” broadly as a “pattern of behavior that takes away the individual’s liberty or freedom and strips away the individual's sense of self, including the individual's bodily integrity and human rights.” It would also treat efforts to interfere with, control, or prevent access to “reproductive healthcare” — including “contraceptive use” or “reproductive outcomes” — as “health-related abuse.”
An Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) legal analysis emailed to Zeale News by the Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops, argued that the bill would prohibit a father or family from protecting their preborn child from abortion and would treat a parent’s disagreement with their child’s “gender identity” as “coercive control” in custody decisions.
The ADF brief also raised concerns that routine parenting decisions, such as monitoring a child’s phone use, restricting social activities, or managing finances, could be scrutinized under the expanded definition of “coercive control.”
“This is a dangerous bill that violates parental rights and U.S. Supreme Court precedent,” ADF said in the analysis. “HB 1309 is so expansive that it will target fit parents engaged in normal parenting behaviors, exposing them to the possibility of losing custody without the traditional safeguards that have long protected parental rights.”
The Colorado Catholic Conference said on its website that removing the two provisions related to “reproductive healthcare” and “coercive control” would bring the bill in line with Catholic social teaching on the family while still addressing domestic violence concerns.