Future of Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs uncertain
As many as 8,000 patients are affected by the closure of the Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs and officials don’t know when, or if, it will reopen in the same location.
The facility on Centennial Boulevard has been closed since three people were killed in a shooting last Friday.
On Tuesday, authorities reduced their presence at the crime scene and reopened all streets surrounding the building. Damage to the building was evident as a large blue tarp covered the entrance. Police officers remained to patrol the area as the investigation continues.
Marie Logsden, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said the organization will assess damage and determine the facility’s future when it can enter the building after the investigation is complete.
“We will work to reopen to serve this community as soon as possible,” Logsden said. “We are working with each patient individually to help them make a plan. Our doors are open throughout Colorado and we are taking care of patients just as we have done for generations. We are adding additional appointments at our nearby sites and working to accommodate everyone who needs us.”
Logsden said Planned Parenthood has 19 centers across the state, but none in Pueblo. The Pueblo center closed earlier this year when the owner did not renew a lease and sold the building. Planned Parenthood had been in Pueblo since 1964 and currently there are no plans to reopen there.
Kierstin Garduno, a patient at the Colorado Springs facility, said it’s difficult for patients to find convenient, affordable services at other locations.
“People think it’s just abortions here but it’s more than that,” she said. “People who find out they’re pregnant have ultrasounds taken here, birth control that’s picked up here, doctor’s appointments. We have to find a new place to actually go and get that stuff done.”
Garduno said safety was a concern at the facility at its present location and its previous location on Colorado Avenue. Officials said they moved the facility in 2010 because it needed an upgrade.
“We had to be escorted in and out on Colorado,” Garduno said. “It was right on the sidewalk, so it was easy for people to yell and harass the patients. I always thought a shooting would happen there before it happened (at Centennial).”
Garduno said she hopes the Centennial facility will reopen.
“But personally, I prefer a different location,” she said. “Just because of what happened here.”
Garduno left a bouquet of flowers Tuesday at a growing memorial for the victims of the shooting.
Affected Planned Parenthood patients can call 800-230-PLAN to reschedule appointments.
