by Colleen Enos
More than 700 bills were introduced in the 2026 Colorado General Assembly, but by God’s grace, none of Colorado’s homeschool freedoms were lost. CHEC was there to stand watch over bills that could affect homeschool freedoms, religious liberty, and parental rights, and sound the alarm when action was needed to engage legislators directly. The 2026 Homeschool Freedom End-of-the-Session Report is published and linked in this post, as well as the Voting Grid chronicling legislators’ votes on 24 of the bills included. Please use these as tools to equip you to take action with your legislators.
Still, there were consistent groups and areas that were targeted throughout the 2026 legislative session. Families of faith were one of the top groups that the majority party took aim at. SB26-097, Decriminalize Adult Commercial Sexual Activity, also known as the Prostitution Bill, was introduced in February. After the initial shock wore off that Colorado wanted to follow in Nevada’s footsteps, religious families and law enforcement pushed back hard. When it became evident that it would not pass out of the Senate committee, the bill was pulled by its sponsors. This was followed by HB26-1322, Civil Actions for Conversion Therapy Survivors, which immediately followed the decisive U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Colorado’s ban on “conversion therapy” counseling for minors as blatantly unconstitutional. Regardless of the constitutionality of the bill, it continued the anti-faith rhetoric by removing the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits against a “licensed mental health professional” who counsels regarding sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts. This leaves biblical counselors under a constant threat of lawsuits.
Additionally, HB26-1141, Discriminatory Practices in Public Schools, which passed on the last day of the session after “public schools” was substituted in the bill with “discrimination in places of public accommodation” that specifically referred to all educational institutions, including faith-based schools. This binds them to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, CADA, which includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in its list of protected groups, thereby stripping away religious conscience protections (CRS 24-34-601).
The war against the family was not complete, however, without specifically targeting them through four separate bills. SB26-018, Legal Protections for the Dignity of Minors, was amended to remove the worst section, but passed, including a secrecy provision hiding a child’s name change from a non-custodial parent who disagreed with the change and omitted their consent. HB26-1292, Scholarship Granting Organizations, was an attempt to prevent families from gaining private educational scholarship help and providing some competition to the public education monopoly. Thankfully, all the opposition to the bill, including from CHEC, prompted the sponsors to pull the bill.
The last two bills, HB26-1309, Abuse in Cases of Separation, and HB26-1335, Abortion Medication Access on College Campuses, both passed on the last day of the legislative session. The Abuse bill redefines domestic violence as including “Coercive Control,” which captures things that a good parent does to protect their child and includes not affirming false gender identity and gender expression. The College Abortion bill prevents families from ever forming by mandating that every educational institution become a pro-abortion advocate and stock the abortion pill, Mifepristone, in their college health care clinics.
Supporting faith and family freedom should be at the top of your mind as you make decisions about who to vote for in the upcoming primary election on June 30 and the November 3 election later this year. The noise will become louder as we approach October, but remember to check the 2026 Homeschool Freedom End-of-the-Session Report and its accompanying Voting Grid to see if your State Representative and State Senator upheld your faith and your family’s freedom.
In Him,
Colleen Enos
CHEC Director of Government Relations
Colleen@CHEC.org
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