By Sarah Neely

Denver, CO – A steady stream of abortion injuries in Colorado – and one patient death – is raising huge, red flags while Colorado officials stand idly by, leaving women to enter abortion clinics at their own risk.

Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, asks, “How many women have to be killed or maimed before Colorado legislators and state agencies will take action against substandard practices in their abortion clinics? Is one tragic death not enough?”

A “Free Pass” – No Regulations for Abortion Facilities

On March 11, Colorado legislators killed a bill in committee that would have established common sense safety regulations for any facilities performing second and third trimester abortions. Currently, there are no gestational limits in Colorado; abortion is legal through all nine months. Additionally, unlike other ambulatory centers in the state, these abortion clinics are not required to be licensed or inspected for patient safety – even when women are being injured or killed. 

Recent legal efforts have made this situation even worse. In July 2022, the Colorado governor signed an executive order protecting abortionists from any out-of-state investigations. Then, in November 2024, Colorado voters enshrined a right to abortion in the constitution, ensuring that unfettered, unregulated abortion would become “the norm” and creating even more protection for shoddy abortion businesses. 

“Colorado abortion clinics – and their abortionists – virtually have a ‘free pass’ from any state oversight, left to operate as they please,” says Newman. “And it’s starting to show.”

The Death of Lexi Arguello, Other Abortion Injuries Rampant 

Since the start of 2024, Operation Rescue has already initiated investigations into nine abortion emergencies. Six of those took place at the same clinic, a Planned Parenthood in Fort Collins, and include the tragic death of Alexis “Lexi” Arguello. Lexi was an 18-year-old girl who reportedly suffered an amniotic fluid embolism during a second-trimester abortion on February 6. She later died from the abortion complications at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital.

“Neither Planned Parenthood or any Colorado officials have acknowledged the tragic death of this young woman, even as the same Planned Parenthood is practically streamlining women to the emergency room,” adds Newman.

Last week, Operation Rescue filed a complaint with the Colorado Medical Board regarding Lexi’s death, citing deep concerns about delay of care and substandard practices. Operation Rescue implored the Board to investigate this patient death immediately. 

Though Lexi’s fate has certainly been the worst, she is far from the only woman injured by this Planned Parenthood. Operation Rescue is currently investigating five additional abortion injuries:

  • January 4, 2025. An ambulance arrived around 9:15 AM. Records indicate a 20-year-old woman with a perforated uterus required emergency transfer. Radio dispatch labeled the call a “Charlie Medical,” or “possibly life-threatening.” After arriving at Planned Parenthood, dispatch was told the ambulance would be “running emergent.”
  • February 20, 2025. An ambulance arrived around 11:16 AM. Records indicate a 25-year-old woman aborting twins, possibly hypotensive (low blood pressure), required emergency transfer. After arriving at Planned Parenthood, dispatch was told the ambulance was “upgrading to emergent.”
  • March 19, 2025. An ambulance was sighted around 3:00 PM. Records indicate a 27-year-old woman with pain required emergency transfer. So far, no other details have been discovered. 
  • April 3, 2025. An ambulance was sighted around 8:50 AM. Records indicate an “Uncoded Medical” requiring emergency transfer. This very recent emergency is still being investigated.
  • April 4, 2025. Immediately following an ambulance the day before, a second ambulance was sighted around 5:10 PM. Records indicate a “Charlie Medical” emergency, meaning “possibly life-threatening” and requiring emergency transfer. This emergency is also still being investigated. 

“Something dangerous is going on at this Planned Parenthood,” says Newman. “Women are being maimed, one is dead, and Colorado appears to be doing nothing to prevent more carnage. In fact, these injuries are not even relegated to just one Planned Parenthood.”

As mentioned, Operation Rescue is currently investigating nine abortion injuries. Three more have been reported at Park Hill Planned Parenthood in Denver, all within days of each other. 

“Starting on March 12, Park Hill required emergency transfer for three different women in less than one week,” comments Sarah Neely, Chief Operating Officer of Operation Rescue. “We are investigating each incident, but 911 records are increasingly difficult to obtain, and especially difficult in Colorado. Those we do receive are so heavily redacted that they are nearly useless to the public. 

“Pro-abortion states never want to help expose the dangers of abortion. Meanwhile, uninformed women and their preborn children are paying the cost.”

Operation Rescue is currently pursuing legal remedies in states where access to 911 calls, which are deemed public records, are becoming more and more restricted.  

Colorado, A Late-Term Abortion Devastation  

The later in pregnancy a woman undergoes an abortion, the higher her risk of complications. 

“Colorado has fully embraced unregulated, unfettered abortion through all nine months of pregnancy,” Neely comments. “The rate of complications is bound to increase, and we are already seeing the evidence in this stream of ambulances from just two Planned Parenthoods.”

Both the Fort Collins and Denver Planned Parenthoods offer abortions into the second trimester.  Lexi Arguello was reportedly 22-weeks pregnant when she arrived in Fort Collins and sought the abortion that ultimately ended her life. 

Operation Rescue’s 2024 Annual Survey identified eight states and the District of Columbia with no gestational limits, allowing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. However, Colorado has long been known as a late-term abortion destination, home to infamous late-term abortionist Warren Hern. 

Though Hern announced his retirement at the start of the year, his Boulder Abortion Clinic aims to continue his grisly work of aborting babies through all nine months. Including Boulder Abortion Clinic, eight Colorado clinics currently perform abortions into the second trimester, making up 36% of all abortion clinics in the state. 

Sheltering abortionists like Hern – who brutally injured a woman in 2013 yet remained licensed – compounded with even more radical abortion policies implemented within the state these last few years has yielded the exact results unfettered, unregulated abortion always yields: a drastic increase in abortions.

According to the most recent statistics available, Colorado has experienced a 64% increase in abortions between 2018 and 2023. To make that statistic more tangible, that means 5,716 more babies were killed in 2023 than just five years earlier in 2018.

“Of course, Colorado doesn’t require any reporting for abortion injuries,” adds Newman. “In fact, Colorado seems entirely uninterested in how many women might be injured by abortion – even when that woman dies. Instead, state officials are doing all they can to increase the number of babies killed and then make sure no one is ever able to hold abortion clinics accountable when more than just the baby is harmed. If Colorado is so determined to give free reign to the abortion cartel, then it should post a sign on every abortion dump in the state: Enter at your own risk.”

This report may be republished with inclusion of the following acknowledgement: “This article was originally published by Operation Rescue, a leading pro-life, Christian activist organization dedicated to exposing abortion abuses, demanding enforcement, saving innocent lives, and building an abortion-free America. The author, Sarah Neely, is Chief Operating Officer for Operation Rescue.”