Anti-abortion protesters gathered in Boulder on Tuesday in front of one of the country’s only providers of abortion later in pregnancy, with roughly 50 attendees from across Colorado waving signs at passing cars and yelling unsolicited advice to patients arriving at the clinic. Activists have voiced their opposition to RISE Collective, a reproductive healthcare clinic in Boulder, since it opened its doors in October.
Organized by the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), and with the participation of several other Colorado anti-abortion groups, the rally sought to “highlight the risks of late abortion to the health and safety of women,” and to bring attention to their petition calling for RISE’s landlord to terminate its lease with the clinic, according to a press release from AAPLOG.
“We just want people to be aware that women’s safety is at risk and that the state is not regulating these facilities that do risky late procedures,” said Dr. Catherine Wheeler, an AAPLOG board member and a former abortion practitioner, in an interview at the rally.
By Colorado law, any abortion must be performed by a licensed medical professional in a licensed facility, except in certain extreme cases.
Editor’s Note: For clarification on Colorado’s regulatory requirements for abortion providers, see our follow-up article, “How Colorado Regulates Abortion.”
“While advocacy and protest are one of the important tenets of dissent that have pushed democracy in this country forward for decades, the AAPLOG group is disappointing in that it is just another disinformation (not just misinformation) provocateur,” said Alicia Moreno, RISE’s executive director, in a written statement to the Colorado Times Recorder on Wednesday. “I can’t figure out for the life of me how threatening every business in our building — including the building owner’s — and harassing all of the patients of all of the medical clinics in our building is not only protected, but meets the goals of the group, if legislative change is really their goal.”
RISE shared their response to the petition with CTR, which was addressed to the property owner. The letter included a point-by-point refutation of the arguments made by AAPLOG, including Wheeler’s contention that facilities like theirs are not regulated.
“Because misinformation and disinformation can create unnecessary concern, we want to proactively provide you with accurate, evidence-based information addressing each of the petition’s claims,” the letter read. “RISE Collective follows the National Abortion Federation Clinical Policy Guidelines, among the most rigorous, evidence-based standards for abortion care in the United States.”
Pro-abortion nonprofit Cobalt has launched its own campaign in support of RISE, urging Boulder residents to voice their support of the clinic to the building owner with their own petition. “While outside groups may try to pressure or confuse decision-makers — the voices of local residents matter most,” read Cobalt’s Dec. 5 email. “Right now, outside groups are pressuring the building’s owner … we need to let him know we support him and access to health care.”
While there are several abortion providers in Boulder and the surrounding area, RISE Collective is unique in that it offers procedures for patients who are up to 34 weeks pregnant, whereas many other clinics do not perform the procedure after 16-20 weeks. The clinic is primarily staffed by former employees of the Boulder Abortion Clinic, which offered similar procedures for over 50 years and closed down following Dr. Warren Hern’s retirement in April.
Among those present at the rally was Francis Rossi, a Boulder resident and member of Democrats for Life Colorado. Having moved from Denver several years back, she says she is working to find and connect with anti-abortion Boulderites despite the city’s reputation as a stronghold for reproductive justice.
“I know there’s a very liberal population here, but I think there are also people like my brother, whose house I’ve lived in, who is ultra conservative,” she said in an interview with CTR during the rally. “I guess I believe in finding a middle. That’s why Democrats for Life really appealed to me because I feel like the truth is somewhere in the middle.”
Despite their continued pressure through the petition and rallies like this one, AAPLOG doesn’t seem to be making much headway towards getting RISE evicted.
“We’ve reached out by email, and we haven’t had a response. The petitions, we know, are going to him,” said Wheeler when asked about the petitions’ progress. “We’d love to talk with him.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to change “late term abortion” to “abortion later in pregnancy.” The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists defines “late term” as 41 weeks through 41 weeks and 6 days of gestation, and abortion does not happen in this period. The description of the legal requirements for how abortions shall be performed has also been updated to more accurately reflect Colorado State Law.
