‘Party like it’s 1972’: Pueblo abortion rights activists celebrate failed city ordinance
A group of abortion rights advocates in Pueblo gathered Sunday afternoon in solidarity with thousands of other activists in the country participating in an annual Women’s March, and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.
The event was organized by a group called Pueblo Pro-Choice, a coalition of activists that formed less than a year ago when the draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe was leaked in the spring. The party at Blo Back Gallery, featuring a food truck and performances from local artists, came after a march through downtown Pueblo.
“The point of this movement is that it's bigger than Roe. … We can sit here and build back something better than what Roe v. Wade was,” said Monica Hughes, a regional organizer with Cobalt, an abortion rights organization and fundraiser. “This is to remind people that just because we lost Roe v. Wade, we are not losing health care. We are not stopping the fight. We're going to continue to advocate for everyone to get reproductive health care.”
The group has organized protests against the failed city council ordinance that would have effectively banned abortion services within Pueblo city limits. Celebrating the win was another reason for the activists to gather Sunday.
Pueblo abortion clinic was already open when city council tabled controversial ordinance
City attorney Dan Kogovsek advised council that passing the ordinance could lead to a lawsuit from Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser — the ordinance would have violated a new state law that bars local governments from interfering with access to reproductive health care.
Hughes said the city council ordinance sparked a lot of interest in abortion rights activism in Pueblo because people realized the rights weren’t guaranteed, she said.
“It was the threat of actually losing access when a lot of people were just like, ‘Oh, I need to step up because this is happening in my own backyard,’” Hughes said.
The legal landscape for abortion access in Colorado contrasts with dozens of Republican-led states that have banned most abortions after Roe fell.
Although Colorado law protects abortion access, Hughes said there are still some barriers to access, such as required parental notification and the barrier to state-funded abortion care. She said Cobalt and other reproductive rights organizations a working to push legislation about misinformation from “anti-abortion centers.”
More: Pueblo representatives outline plans for the upcoming legislative session
“Although we have protected access to reproductive health care, you still see something like the ordinance that was brought in last month that comes for our access,” said Sydney Haney, a co-organizer and administrator of Pueblo Pro-Choice.
Haney said the group was also acknowledging the opening of the abortion clinic in Pueblo’s Bessemer neighborhood but noted that many barriers to access exist for people in Pueblo and southeastern Colorado, especially transportation costs.
Pueblo’s abortion rights movement is about building community, Hughes said, that welcomes people of all incomes, genders and backgrounds.
“It is about reproductive health care and ensuring people have access to resources, whether they want to continue their pregnancy or not,” Hughes said.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo abortion rights activists celebrate failure of city ordinance
