A pro-abortion group sponsored by one of the nation’s most notorious late-term abortion doctors is soliciting funds to open a new clinic in Pueblo, Colorado, to provide abortions for women traveling from states with stricter abortion laws.
Clinics for Abortion and Reproductive Excellence (CARE) is soliciting funding to open a “first and second trimester” surgical clinic “so that we can assist the many patients who have difficulty obtaining appointments and traveling long distances for abortions.” CARE operates abortion clinics in Bethesda, Maryland, and Bellvue, Nebraska, at the present time.
LeRoy Carhart, the medical director of CARE, is a prolific late-term abortionist who fought in court to overturn Nebraska’s restriction on partial-birth abortions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Additionally, he failed attempted to overturn a 2003 federal restriction on partial-birth abortions, which remains in effect today. Carhart is one of the few abortion providers in the country who conducts third-trimester abortions openly.
The group argues, in reference to recent legislative moves in Nebraska to strengthen the state’s pro-life laws, “We must ensure that access is maintained in the Midwest should Nebraska lose access.”
In Colorado, abortion is allowed until birth and protected by law. The state has positioned itself as a destination for women seeking abortions who travel from other states.
In reaction to the potential building of a new abortion clinic in Pueblo, a local pro-life pregnancy center is organizing an attempt to sway public opinion against the clinic’s establishment.
Tamra Axworthy, CEO of the ACPC Women’s Clinic in Pueblo, told CNA that the pro-life community in southern Colorado is aware of the new abortion clinic’s threat and is mobilizing individuals and resources in response. Near downtown Pueblo, ACPC is a pro-life center that offers pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and referrals to community resources for expectant women.
The prospective location of CARE’s abortion clinic, according to Axworthy, is in the Bessemer neighborhood, a somewhat underserved working-class residential area adjacent to the interstate, close to a hospital and an elementary school.
CARE Colorado’s social media posts indicate that the building is undergoing renovations, but Axworthy was unable to provide a timetable for the opening.
Axworthy stated, “We hope that if we can’t shut it down in the court of public opinion, we can at least ensure that he follows every available code and regulation in order to open up that facility.”
He believes that this community will embrace and assist him, but he will not receive such treatment.
Axworthy stated that it is crucial for pro-life individuals to become familiar with Carhart and his ideas because she believes it is possible that he will attempt to operate other abortion facilities in other parts of the country.
Axworthy stated in Pueblo that the pro-life community is considering distributing warning postcards to houses in the Bessemer region, pointing them to a website they want to develop to contain information about the clinic and Carhart.
“It’s vital that our community knows who this individual is… and that he’s bad news for Pueblo,” she stated.
Axworthy also urged pro-life individuals to pray and fast to prevent the opening of the abortion facility and to contact their government authorities, including the mayor, who she said “could shut this down if he wanted to.”
CNA requested comment from Carhart’s organization, but did not receive a reply.
According to a July 2022 article in the Pueblo Chieftain, the Pueblo location of Planned Parenthood closed in 2015 when its lease was not extended. The Chieftain noted that while the Pueblo location did not offer surgical or pharmaceutical abortions, it did provide counseling for women who were scheduled to undergo an abortion elsewhere. The closest abortion clinic to Pueblo in Colorado is the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs.
Colorado was the first state to legalize abortion in the United States. Initial legislation, passed into law in 1967, permitted abortion in certain circumstances, including rape, incest, or a prognosis of irreversible mental or physical handicap for either the mother or the unborn child. Six years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that abortion is a nationwide constitutional right.
Roe v. Wade has been overturned, but Colorado approved a bill earlier this year stating that “a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus has no independent or derived rights under state law.” The new law established the right to an abortion for all 40 weeks of pregnancy and for any reason, solidifying Colorado’s position as one of the most permissive states in the United States with regard to abortion.
In Colorado, there is no waiting period for an abortion and no residence restriction. Already, Colorado is home to Warren Hern, an abortionist who has been working in Boulder since 1975 and who welcomes patients from all around the world seeking late-term abortions.
Abortion providers in Colorado have positioned themselves as a destination for women seeking abortions, especially those from states that have or are planning to impose restrictions on abortion. Following the reversal of Roe v. Wade, several of Colorado’s close neighbors, including Utah, Arizona, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, have implemented major abortion restrictions. There are total bans on abortion in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Utah, although the Utah ban is now being halted by the courts.
In recent years, it has been reported that substantial numbers of women from neighboring states, such as Texas, travel to Colorado to receive abortions. At one point, Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains placed a prominent banner on its webpage inviting women traveling from Texas to obtain abortions.
Moreover, despite New Mexico’s proximity to Texas, Colorado has three times as many abortion clinics as New Mexico.
In August, Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains informed CBS News Colorado that its facilities have witnessed a 270% surge in out-of-state patients seeking abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned.