(LifeSiteNews) – Operation Rescue is seeking answers in the death of an 18-year-old Colorado Planned Parenthood patient, whom testimony indicates was taken to a hospital too late and not urgently enough to receive life-saving care for her late-term abortion.
OR reported that on the morning of February 6, Alexis “Lexi” Arguello came to Planned Parenthood’s Fort Collins facility for an abortion at 22 weeks. She suffered an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE), a known potential complication of late-term abortions in which amniotic fluid enters the mother’s bloodstream. She was transported to a hospital, where despite the emergency staff’s best efforts she passed away as her grandparents waited helplessly.
During a U.S. Health and Human Services Committee hearing this week regarding legislation for new medical regulations on abortion facilities, Dr. Keri Kasun testified that Lexi’s grandfather “was told by the abortion providers that Lexi was transferred too late,” that the abortion center not only waited too long before calling an ambulance but requested that the ambulance not use its sirens on the way to the hospital. “She didn’t receive the urgency of care that would be required in order to have a chance to survive this condition. Instead, she got the silent siren treatment.”
And while it is not yet known if it happened in this case, Operation Rescue noted that Planned Parenthood is also known to direct ambulances to try to enter and exit their properties through neighboring lots rather than the most direct entrance in hopes of downplaying outward signs of medical problems at the expense of timely care.
“Abortion clinics are not equipped for critical care,” Operation Rescue chief operating officer Sarah Neely observed. “We request dozens and dozens of 911 calls every year proving this fact. Planned Parenthood Fort Collins not only had zero ability to address this life-threatening complication, but testimony from Dr. Kasun shows they made Lexi’s situation even worse, callously trying to protect their clinic over saving this girl’s life.”
Operation Rescue says it has more questions and will conduct its own investigation to try to get them. Among those questions is whether Lexi was fully informed of the increased danger of abortion complications later in pregnancy.
“This is an ongoing investigation, and Operation Rescue will not stop until every legal avenue has been pursued,” Neely said. “We are still obtaining records and conducting interviews. We have reached out to at least one family member, offering our condolences and offering to put them in contact with an attorney. That is a standing offer. Complaints will also be forthcoming. Planned Parenthood must be held accountable for this complete failure in patient care.”
Abortion, which despite persistent media narratives is almost never sought for “medical” reasons, has long been known to carry significant risks on top of its intended lethality to preborn babies.
Abortion clinics across the country are regularly flagged for harming women though botched procedures, unsanitary tools and environments, and lack of regulatory protections such as requirements for staff to secure admitting privileges at nearby hospitals in the event of complications. With the rise of services dispensing abortion pills by mail in violation of federal law (a practice both major presidential candidates have vowed to let continue), chemical abortions self-administered completely without medical oversight are certain to increase those harms further still.
Further, abortion can be dangerous to the mother even when “responsibly” committed.
“The Institute of Medicine lists surgical abortion as an immutable risk factor for preterm birth,” the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) has documented. “Women face a 35% increased risk of preterm birth in a future pregnancy after one surgical abortion and an almost 90% increase in preterm birth risk after two abortions. The increased risk of future preterm birth for women after they have an abortion represents a clear long-term health risk. Mothers who deliver preterm babies are at a higher risk of medical complications later in life, including cardiovascular disease and stroke.”
“From 1993 to 2018, there are at least 75 studies examining the link between abortion and mental health,” AAPLOG continues. “Two-thirds of those studies showed a correlation between abortion and adverse mental health outcomes. Studies show abortion significantly increases the risk of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal behavior, when compared to women with unintended pregnancies who choose to carry the baby to birth. A study from Finland found a 7X higher suicide rate after abortion compared to when women gave birth.”
Rather than cracking down on the abortion industry, however, Colorado officials have their eyes set on those offering alternatives. In January, LifeSiteNews covered the Colorado Board of Nursing investigating nurse practitioner Chelsea Mynyk for educating conflicted mothers about safely using progesterone to attempt abortion pill reversal.
