Abortion rates rising in Colorado
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- State officials say Colorado is seeing a dramatic rise in women coming to Colorado for abortions.
State data shows that 1985 was the last time Colorado doctors performed as many abortions as they did in 2022. Advocates on both sides of the issue tell KRDO that this is a problem, but obviously for different reasons.
According to the state health department, 14,154 abortions were performed in 2022. That's thousands more than in 2021. Planned Parenthood attributes this rise to the reversal of RoevWade.
"Pre-the Dobbs decision and the reversal of Roe, we saw probably about 9-10% of our abortion care patients were coming from out-of-state. So when you compare that now to 37%, it's staggering," said Fawn Bolak with Planned Parenthood.
Bolak added that the clinics in Colorado were prepared for the surge, but they can't keep it up forever.
"(we're) Making sure that we're fully staffed and increasing our hours in our health center in order to accommodate this new influx. And to be honest, ya know, we will get to a place where this is unsustainable," Bolak said.
Save the Storks, a pro-life group in Colorado Springs, says they weren't surprised by the new states either.
"When I saw that statistic my heart broke. I am an adopted child. So anytime I see the abortion numbers increase, it's heartbreaking. But, I wasn't surprised because Colorado has really positioned our state as a destination for abortions," said Diane Ferraro with Save the Storks.
"So my encouragement would be for women who are coming here from out of state that they first visit a women's health clinic and learn about their options," Ferraro added.
