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House Health & Human Services

Wednesday, February 4, 2026·2h 35m·▶ Watch / Listen

The House Health & Human Services Committee advanced two significant bills — one removing Colorado's forced sterilization statutes for people with disabilities (12-1) and one authorizing occupational therapists to perform dry needling (12-0) — while also voting 9-4 to introduce a combative sports sunset bill that drew objections over its 11-year continuation period and lack of qualifications for commission members.

Key Actions

·HB 26-1040 – Sterilization Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesPassed

+ 13 more actions

Controversies

Family vs. individual/state authority over sterilization decisions for people with disabilities (HB 26-1040)

Jeanne Rush argued that decision-making authority 'belongs to the families, not to all you strangers,' characterizing government and nonprofit involvement as 'tons of money and tons of lawyers and tons of committees and people who have no business crawling into their business,' while Jack Johnson argued 'a person who has a disability should not be sterilized over their objection' and Representative Froelich stated the bill removes the government's ability to mandate sterilization, not medical professionals from the equation.

+ 4 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“Here in 2026, we are asking the legislature to say there doesn't need to be guardrails. We just shouldn't do this anymore. A person who has a disability should not be sterilized over their objection.”

Jack Johnson, attorney at Disability Law Colorado — Testifying in support of HB 26-1040, which removes Colorado statutory language permitting sterilization of people with disabilities over their objections.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Motion to introduce the Combative Sports Office and Commission draft billPassed
Yes (8)Bradfield, English, Ray, McCormick, Rydin, Stewart, Goldstein, Madam Chair
No (4)Bradley, Hamrick, Johnson, Woog
L001 as amended by L002 (HB 26-1040)Passed
Yes (6)English, Ray [UNCLEAR — likely Rydin, McCormick, Stewart, Goldstein, Gilchrist (Madam Chair)
No (5)Barron, Bradfield, Bradley, Johnson, Woog
Absent (1)Amrick [UNCLEAR spelling — possibly Hamrick or Emerick] — excused
HB 26-1040 as amended — referral to Committee of the WholePassed
Yes (10)Bradfield, Bradley, English, Emerick, McCormick, Rydin, Stewart, Woog, Goldstein, Gilchrist (chair)
No (1)Johnson
HB 26-1042 — referral to Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendationPassed
Yes (11)Barron, Bradfield, Bradley, English, Hooray [UNCLEAR — likely Feret, Hamrick, Johnson, McCormick, Rydin, Stewart, Woog
Absent (1)Goldstein — excused
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TranscriptPreview
The committee will come to order. Mr. Shadoon, please call the roll. Representatives. Baron Bradfield. Yes. Bradley. Presente. English. Here. Right. Presente. Amric. Excuse. Yesterday I did art Johnson. Here. McCormick. Here. Brighton. Presente. Stuart. Here. Woog. Representative Woog. A Key. Goldstein. Here. Madam Chair. A present. Thank you everyone. Welcome to the Health and Human Services Committee. You can tell we are already going to have a great session. We are here to hear two bills and one sunset. Today we are going to testimony will be three minutes each. In the future, if we have a lot of folks in order to get through, we'll limit it to two minutes. But today will be three minutes. So we are excited about the conversation today and we'll go ahead and get started. Here. Yeah. An OLLS drafter will attend the committee's first sunset hearings. We're here today and provide information about the sunset process. So today we're holding the sunset hearings on the Colorado Boxing Safety Sunset. Thank you. But first a representative office of the Legislative Legal Services here to present on the sunset review process. Welcome. Introduce yourselves and you can proceed. Thank you, Madam Chair. Renee…
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