Colorado secretary of state bans employees from traveling to Alabama after abortion law

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Thursday that her staff was banned from traveling to Alabama after the state signed into law the toughest abortion law in the nation.

“I’m calling for a boycott of Alabama,” Griswold wrote in a tweet. “Until Alabama allows for safe & legal access to health care for women, I will not authorize spending of state resources on travel to Alabama. I call on other state and local leaders in CO and across the country to join me in this boycott.”

I’m calling for a boycott of Alabama. Until Alabama allows for safe & legal access to health care for women, I will not authorize spending of state resources on travel to Alabama. I call on other state and local leaders in CO and across the country to join me in this boycott.

— Jena Griswold (@JenaGriswold) May 16, 2019

Asked about Griswold’s comments, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) told The Denver Post he is not considering a similar boycott but added that he condemns the new law.{mosads} 

“Alabama’s rolling back of a woman’s right to choose is an existential threat to our personal freedom,” Polis’s office said. “The governor will always defend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions.”

Griswold’s move comes a day after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed into law an abortion ban that makes no exemptions for victims of rape and incest. The only exception is for when a mother’s life is in danger. Under the new law, those who perform abortions would face sentences from 10 to 99 years, but the person receiving the abortion would not be punished. 

The law has spurred national outrage and drawn backlash from Democrats and Republicans alike.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) blasted the law as “extreme” while conservative commentator Tomi Lahren called it “too restrictive.”