“Colorado! Come for the fresh air, the perfect mountains majesty, a magical night under a magical sky,” the comedian begins. “Whatever experience you’re looking for, you can find it here — in Colorado! But we’re more than just beautiful wilderness: We also have bustling town centers, and access to all the services you need. All as legal as a fresh cup of cocoa is refreshing.”
The ad then moves into a humorous, thinly veiled nod to the state’s abortion services. Several nearby red states have restricted and even banned access to abortion with criminal consequences, with those restrictions taking full effect after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in June. But in Colorado, Governor Jared Polis issued an executive order in July protecting abortion as a fundamental right, protecting abortion providers and those seeking out-of-state care.
The Schumer skit shows various couples and women who give their reasons for visiting the state.
“Visiting here was on our bucket list of things to do before we die,” says one woman. “Which, honestly, I might have if I hadn’t been able to visit Colorado.”
“Not that you need some big, dramatic reason to come to Colorado,” Schumer jumps in. “Nobody should have to justify a trip to Colorado. Maybe you just wanna do with your own body what you wanna do with your own body — if you come to Colorado, that’s all right by us!”
The video then turns to a map with Colorado highlighted in blue: “Colorado is more centrally located than you think, especially if you’re coming from, say, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Nebraska or Oklahoma.”
Utah has an eighteen-week ban on abortions, Arizona has a new fifteen-week ban, Nebraska is working to reduce its twenty-week ban to twelve, Oklahoma has banned the procedure altogether, and Wyoming banned abortion with a law that went into effect in July but is now being challenged in the courts.
Many people from nearby states with harsh abortion restrictions or bans have been coming to Colorado lately, with Texans making up the majority of those visitors. Some providers are seeing more clients from out of state than they are Coloradans.
“I came to Colorado from Texas,” says a woman in Schumer’s skit. “As a last resort, I could have gone to a city in Texas that has a super-chill DA, if you know what I mean.”
Colorado will be ready for its close-up when Inside Amy Schumer premieres October 20 on HBO.