Recap: Seeking Justice for Lexi & Calling for Accountability in Colorado’s Back-Alley Abortions

On a hot Friday morning in Fort Collins, Colorado, dozens of dedicated pro-life people gathered on a narrow sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood to hold a press conference and prayer rally, and to ask Colorado officials a single question: How many is too many?

Lexi Arguello died on February 6, 2025. She was 18years old and 22 weeks pregnant. She likely came to Planned Parenthood thinking a second-trimester abortion would solve all her problems. She also likely believed Planned Parenthood to be a safe medical clinic with well-trained staff – after all, the state wouldn’t just let a back-alley abortion business openly operate, right?

Except that’s exactly what Colorado does. The Planned Parenthood she walked into has no licensing requirements, which means no inspections, no assurance of safety standards being met, or employees being vetted.

Lexi probably never imagined she would never come out of that clinic alive, and she also probably never imagined that afterwards state officials would refuse to investigate her death, fail to question a single Planned Parenthood staff member or review a single medical record. In fact, the county coroner would do all he could to hide the details of her death, openly stating in court that he believed if other women found out how Lexi died, it might deter them from seeking abortions in Colorado.

All that, and more, is what Lexi really walked into that morning, and both she and her unborn child perished because of it. So on the weekend of August 28, with a coalition of national and state leaders, Operation Rescue traveled to Colorado and led a series of events known as the #JusticeForLexi campaign.

We began on Thursday night with incredible in-depth training on how to engage in effective pro-life conversations hosted by activist and apologetic group Justice for All. This was in preparation for campus outreach the following day.

Friday morning, Operation Rescue, Life Legal Defense Foundation, APPLOG Colorado, Democrats For Life, Pro-Life Colorado, and Colorado Women’s Health & Safety all spoke at a thirty-minute press conference where each leader called for transparency and accountability regarding the death of Lexi and the growing number of other women injured by Colorado abortion clinics since January 2025 – twenty-four women and counting.

See the full press conference video below!

Following the press conference, the coalition led the #JusticeForLexi Prayer Rally, hearing from powerful speakers like OR President Troy Newman, former abortionist Dr. Catherine Wheeler, Attorney Alexandra Snyder and Bishop Jorge Rodriguez of the Archdiocese of Denver. The Rally centered around a special liturgy with specific prayers for the babies dying inside the late-term Fort Collins clinic and so many other clinics across the state and nation.

At the close, attendees were invited to lay flowers on the steps leading to the abortion clinic, in memory of Lexi and her 22-week baby. Days later, one of the sidewalk counselors reported that a couple who arrived during the event that day left the clinic, telling him on the way out that they were keeping their baby. Whether or not they were scheduled for an abortion that day is unknown, but they left the dangerous clinic without harming their precious child.

With the Prayer Rally complete, every leader from the coalition made their way to the college campus directly across the street from this Planned Parenthood. Lexi was 18 years old, about to graduate high school. Even in the early planning stages of this campaign, OR knew it wanted a campus outreach component to alert the very students Planned Parenthood loves targeting to what happened to Lexi and what abortion truly looks like.

On campus, there was a Planned Parenthood table right across from the Justice for All pro-life table. Kristy Neeley, Executive Director of Pro-Life Colorado and dedicated 40 Days for Life leader in Fort Collins, tried to engage the students running the Planned Parenthood table, asking if they knew about Lexi. They refused to speak to her, even going so far as to turn their heads away and refuse to look at her.

On Saturday, the #JusticeForLexi coalition led two more prayer vigils – one at the all-trimester abortion clinic RISE Collective, which aims to replace Warren Hern’s now defunct late-term Boulder Abortion Clinic, and another at the Park Hill Planned Parenthood in Denver, the second largest abortion facility in the country and also committing late-term abortions. Of the 24 women injured since the start of 2025, this Planned Parenthood has been responsible for nine of them.

Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, states, “Operation Rescue isn’t done in Colorado. It was an honor and blessing to stand with such a dedicated group of leaders and pro-life citizens. Our next step is to support this growing coalition in any way we can, until we see commonsense legislation passed that holds these reckless abortion businesses accountable for killing and maiming women.”

Check out this Recap on the new 24:11 Rescue Podcast!

News Coverage of the #JusticeForLexi Campaign:

• Colorado Politics, Guest Column from Dr. Catherine Wheeler
• Colorado Times Recorder, Article by Sean Beedle (Smears Operation Rescue but included inspiring and informative quotes from #JusticeForLexi Leaders)
• EWTN, Article by Kate Quiñones
• Denver Catholic, Local News that amplified EWTN’s coverage
• LifeNews.com (Thankful for their coverage every step of this campaign!)

This article was originally published by Operation Rescue, a leading pro-life, Christian activist organization dedicated to exposing abortion abuses, demanding enforcement, saving innocent lives, and building an abortion-free America. The author, Sarah Neely, is Chief Operating Officer for Operation Rescue.