Lloyd Benes: A 48th wedding anniversary wish (guest opinion)

For our 48th wedding anniversary in the last week of August, my wife and I chose to focus on our shared pro-life mission. On Aug. 28, a morning memorial was held at the sidewalk in front of Fort Collins Planned Parenthood. The memorial was for Lexi Aguilar, who died after being taken to the hospital following an abortion at that facility on Feb. 6, 2025. Since Lexi's death, a dozen 911 ambulance calls resulted in women being taken from that clinic to Poudre Valley Hospital. The ambulance calls contain descriptions like 'Charlie Medical,' 'Priority 1 emergency' and 'uncontrolled bleeding' — those are standard ambulance terms indicating life-threatening conditions requiring immediate response. One might question if this clinic is a safe place for women to enter. Photos of the event showed that two-thirds of the 60 attendees were women. This contradicts the claim that sidewalk advocacy is driven by men trying to control women's bodies. Instead, men and women seek to protect the health, safety, and lives of women and their babies. People came from across Colorado and the nation to the memorial, including Alexandra Snyder of Life Legal (California), Sarah Neely and Troy Newman of Operation Rescue (Kansas), Dr. Catherine Wheeler of Teller County (President of AAPLOG Colorado), Dr. Tom Perille of Democrats for Life of Colorado, Kristy Neeley (executive director of Pro Life Colorado), Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez Novelo of the Archdiocese of Denver as well as Colorado pregnancy resource centers (Birthline of Loveland, the Resource Center of Greeley, and Life Choices of Longmont). These pro-life pregnancy resource centers provide free medical and baby supplies, plus emotional support for pregnant women — in contrast to abortion clinics charging $500 to $5,000 per abortion. The key theme dominating the memorial was how disgraceful it is for Democrats of the Colorado Legislature to refuse to require regulations and inspections for second- and third-trimester abortion clinics (like Fort Collins Planned Parenthood). All other ambulatory surgical clinics in Colorado must meet hygiene, sterilization, and inspection standards. During the memorial presentations, Kristy Neeley displayed 13 pages of Colorado regulations for birthing centers, and 10 pages of regulations for tattoo parlors — and a single blank page for abortion clinic regulations (tinyurl.com/3tattoo, tinyurl.com/13birth). Alexandra Snyder said: 'Colorado's legislature has twice rejected attempts to impose even basic safety requirements. We will continue to fight for laws that protect women in Colorado from this unconscionable neglect.' Snyder said she hoped that Lexi's death will finally compel lawmakers to require abortion clinics to meet the same patient safety standards required of medical facilities. Dr. Tom Perille of Democrats for Life of Colorado noted that for two consecutive years, bills were introduced to grant the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) authority to license, regulate, and inspect second- and third-trimester abortion facilities. Both times, the bills were defeated along party lines. Perille stated: 'Putting the abortion industry's financial interests above the health and safety of Colorado women must stop.' (tinyurl.com/regs4abortionclinics) As a call to action, my wife and I would be honored if you would reflect on Lexi's story and support memorial efforts for her. Democrats of the legislature voted against House bills HB26 1445 and HB25 1252, which would have required abortion clinic regulation. Therefore, please refrain from voting for any Democrat candidate seeking election to the Colorado Assembly as a Senator or Representative this fall. I see no other way for clinics that include medical or surgical abortions to begin to reduce the dangers to women's health and safety. Please provide feedback on this article by email at lloydbenes50@gmail.com. Lloyd Benes is a retired engineer living in Loveland.