It was recently announced that a new abortion clinic will be locating in Pueblo, CO. The clinic will be run by national abortion provider Clinics for Abortion and Reproductive Excellence (CARE), which boasts of “Specializing in 2nd and 3rd trimester abortion care.” The CARE clinic will be the first dedicated abortion clinic in Pueblo since 2015. Prior to CARE moving to Pueblo, businesses and members of the community have successfully fought attempts to expand the abortion industry in their city.
CARE was founded by Dr. LeRoy Carhart, a late-term abortionist who is one of the few doctors in the United States who openly provides third trimester abortions. CARE currently operates two abortion clinics; one in Maryland and the other in Nebraska. Carhart, who has been subject to investigation in Nebraska, has also faced lawsuits for abortion-related injuries. He also tried and failed to get the federal ban on partial-birth abortion declared unconstitutional at the U.S. Supreme Court.
As prolife activists in Nebraska have gained momentum towards passing prolife laws, CARE has determined that it must expand its reach to ensure that people living in the Midwest have increased access to abortion. This follows a recent trend among pro-abortions who argue that states should increase their capacity to provide abortions in light of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade (1973) in the case Dobbs v Jackson (2022).
While pro-abortionists advance the lie that women need abortions, they obfuscate the reality that abortion is the deliberate killing of a preborn baby inside the womb. CARE claims to instill values such as kindness, courtesy, justice, love, and respect while simultaneously avoiding describing the graphic nature of abortion and, in particular, late-term abortions when preborn babies can feel pain.
Although CARE has stated that it will only provide first and second trimester abortions at the Pueblo clinic, their website boasts that they are “one of the nation’s only clinics that provide abortion care throughout pregnancy, meaning 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-trimester abortion care.” Given CARE’s history, it is very concerning that this late-term abortion provider is coming to Pueblo.
In response to the situation, Most Reverend Stephen J. Berg, Bishop of Pueblo released the following statement:
“I am extremely saddened by the announcement of an abortion clinic due to open across the street from our Catholic hospital, Saint Mary Corwin in Pueblo. Life begins at the moment of conception, and this incursion is an aggressive, direct attack against the sanctity of life and the spiritual wellbeing of the expectant mother, father, and community.
“As society is learning, protecting the most vulnerable among us, our unborn children as well as those already born, is a first priority for a community desiring to be healthy and growing. There are abundant resources and programs offered to help young mothers through stressful pregnancies where no other options are offered other than abortion. For over 30 years The Caring Pregnancy Center in Pueblo has assisted such mothers and their families with medical assistance, counseling, maternity, and baby supplies. Their success in saving mothers from the anguish of abortion has been phenomenal.
“Abortion produces untold, hidden damage and heartbreak. The precious life of an unmet, unseen brother or sister is lost. There is indeed a better way. We pray for all expectant mothers to be lovingly supported in welcoming new life. We pray for healing for those wounded by the experience of abortion. We pray for those who work to defend and nurture life in all its stages. Please pray too for our community, that we work together to one day end the scourge of abortion and celebrate the gift of life.”
Unfortunately, the state legislature has ensured that third trimester abortions are legal in Colorado. Earlier this year, the Colorado legislature passed the radical Reproductive Health Equity Act which allows for abortion from conception until birth and for any reason, including the child’s race, sex, or a disability. Because of this, late-term abortion clinics like CARE can operate in Colorado and perform an abortion, thereby killing a preborn child, for all forty weeks of a pregnancy.
This is despite the fact that second and third trimester abortion is very unpopular across the country. According a May 2022 Gallup Poll, 71 percent of respondents felt that abortion should be illegal in the last three months of pregnancy while 55 percent said that abortions in the second three months of pregnancy should be illegal. Furthermore, a 2020 Cygnal poll showed that only 37 percent of Coloradans agreed that abortions should be unrestricted.
Several pro-abortion lawmakers who supported RHEA, stated that their intention was to make Colorado an abortion destination and “safe haven.” They wanted pregnant mothers to come in droves to Colorado for abortions. It is expected that their efforts are only beginning and that in upcoming legislative sessions and elections there will be renewed efforts to increase abortion accessibility and capacity in this state. This new abortion facility in Pueblo, which has been cheered by pro-abortion activists, is only the beginning.
The environment engendered by pro-abortion activists and lawmakers in Colorado by passing RHEA is causing extremist late-term abortion providers like LeRoy Carhart to expand their practice into Colorado. Community leaders in Pueblo and across our state should speak out against this horrific practice coming to Pueblo.
Rather than expand abortion access in Colorado, lawmakers and community leaders ought to focus on building a culture of life in the state and supporting pregnant mothers in distress.
Puebloans, and Coloradans, deserve better than the false promises of abortion.