A pro-life organization is investigating the death of an 18-year-old woman who died after a late-term abortion at a Colorado-based Planned Parenthood clinic.
Keri Kasun, PharmD, told Colorado’s House Health and Human Services Committee the family of Alexis “Lexi” Arguello reached out to her for answers about the medical complication Arguello experienced after having her 22-week-old unborn child aborted in February at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Arguello’s grandfather, who was then unaware his granddaughter was pregnant, was summoned to the hospital on February 6, and she died that day. Kasun says Arguello suffered an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE), which led to her developing disseminated intravascular coagulation, a serious blood-clotting condition.
Operation Rescue, a pro-life organization, says it has spent weeks gathering information on Arguello’s death, in a March 13 news release.
Arguello is not the only recent victim of a late-term abortion gone wrong. In Illinois, an abortionist is being sued over failing to remove body parts of a 22-week-old aborted baby in 2023, which was discovered after the mother underwent emergency surgery weeks later.
Under Pressure
Recent abortion deaths are bringing out more scrutiny of the industry.
“Patients report failed abortions, misplaced IUDs and inadequately trained staff,” states the subhead of a February 15, 2025, The New York Times article titled “Botched Care and Tired Staff: Planned Parenthood in Crisis.”
Planned Parenthood announced on March 19 it was selling the New York City building that houses its only clinic, blaming “inflation and stagnant reimbursement.”
At about the same time, President Donald Trump announced he would freeze tens of millions of dollars in Title X grants going to the nationwide organization while his administration reviews its operating policies.
Safety Last
After the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization reversing the Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide, the industry underwent a transformation. States either restricted or banned abortion or removed regulations that were seen as impeding abortion access.
Deregulating abortion clinics harms women, says Genevieve Marnon, legislative director of Right to Life of Michigan.
“There is no question that health and safety regulations for abortion clinics are a public good,” said Marnon. “The idea that removing them somehow serves the interest of women’s health is a fallacy. It doesn’t pass the straight-face test.
“In 2022 in Michigan, the proabortion majority legislature, along with their ally the governor, repealed the abortion clinic health and safety standards,” said Marnon.
In 2024, Michigan became the sixth state to do so, specifically exempting abortion providers from reporting physical complications from abortions.
Protections Removed
Michigan’s safety law previously “required standardized information be given to women prior to an abortion, a 24-hour waiting period, and a provision that only doctors could perform abortions,” said Marnon.
The safety law also included regulations requiring abortion clinics to attain the standard of outpatient surgical facilities, “including standardized hallway widths to accommodate emergency providers and stretchers, infection control protocols, and emergency medical equipment, etc.”
The removal of these protections puts patients at risk, says Marnon.
“The law required periodic inspections by the department to make sure the clinics were sanitary, that medications were not outdated, and that instruments were in good working order, etc.,” said Marnon. “In the year following the repeal of the clinic licensing and inspecting law, serious abortion complications rose 38 percent! This is directly from the annual reports provided by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.”
Legislation Halted
The Colorado legislature responded to the Lexi Arguello incident with House Bill 25-1252, which would apply to abortion providers the same regulations and reporting requirements as all other medical establishments. In an 8-4 vote, the House Committee on Health & Human Services postponed the bill indefinitely.
“This heartbreaking case out of Colorado is yet another reminder of the fact that induced abortion after 20 weeks’ gestation presents a greater immediate risk of maternal death than live birth,” said Donna Harrison, M.D., a board-certified obstetrician, and gynecologist (OB-GYN) and director of research at the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG).
AAPLOG released a statement in 2019 outlining the dangers of allowing abortions after 20 weeks. Harrison says the abortion pill mifepristone would not have been a safer choice for a mid-term pregnancy and in fact, would have been riskier.
“Though abortion advocates promote chemical abortion as a safe and convenient alternative, the fact is that chemical abortion has a five times greater risk of complications than surgical abortion and is only FDA approved for use up to 10 weeks’ gestation,” Harrison told Health Care News.
Sending Help
Pregnant mothers need more financial and moral support, says Marnon.
“Current efforts underway in Michigan include increased support for pregnant women so that they aren’t left with abortion as their only choice,” said Marnon.
“Michigan passed a Constitutional amendment in 2022 which allows abortion up to birth for any reason or no reason at all,” said Marnon. “So, we are working to support bills to reduce the financial burdens on pregnant women and to make it easier to have children in our state. For choice to truly exist, women must be given every opportunity to make a choice for life.”
Harrison says AAPLOG is part of a growing community of OB-GYNs who prioritize life.
“As the community of pro-life OB-GYNs grows, we will be sure to grow more outspoken in our defense of our pregnant and preborn patients,” said Harrison.
Harry Painter ([email protected]) writes from Oklahoma.
Harry Painter ([email protected]) writes from Brooklyn, New York.
