New Colorado RISE Collective clinic offers third-trimester abortions up to 34 weeks gestation

Pro-life groups rejoiced when Dr. Warren Hern retired after 50 years of performing late-term abortions in Boulder, Colorado, but now another all-trimester clinic is stepping in to fill the void. Here’s what you need to know about the new RISE Collective clinic and the continuing debate over late-term abortion access:

New clinic replaces Hern’s practice

RISE Collective steps in after Boulder Abortion Clinic closure:

• RISE Collective began scheduling appointments two weeks ago for late-stage abortions, six months after Boulder Abortion Clinic closed its doors after Dr. Hern’s retirement
• 87-year-old doctor founded clinic and was nation’s best-known provider of elective abortions in final weeks of pregnancy
• RISE, which stands for Reproductive Health, Inclusive Care, Support and Empowerment, becomes one of estimated five U.S. clinics offering abortions up to 34 weeks’ gestation, or about 10 weeks after fetal viability
• “In Boulder, Colorado, place with historic legacy of all-trimester abortion care, new chapter is rising,” said organization in its video announcement

No justification required policy

Clinic states any reason is valid for late-term procedure:

• Patients don’t need to justify or explain their decision to seek late-term procedure
• “At RISE Collective, we believe that any reason you have for needing abortion care is yours, and it is the right one,” video states
• Colorado has no gestational limits on abortion, but RISE said that “while law is clear, access is not”
• “RISE is one of only handful of clinics in country trained to provide abortion care in all trimesters,” announcement said

Former Hern staff continues work

Clinic staffed by Boulder Abortion Clinic veterans:

• Alicia Moreno, clinic’s executive director, said facility is staffed by former Boulder Abortion Clinic administrators and clinicians who decided to start up all-trimester abortion practice after Dr. Hern took down his shingle in April
• “There’s only about 15 doctors in country that do later [abortion] work, and we have 20% of those doctors in our group,” Ms. Moreno told Boulder Reporting Lab in May
• “We’re trying to keep band together”
• “Our medical staff have been doing this work with skill, compassion and dedication for more than two decades”

Pro-life group reactions

Organizations express disappointment over clinic opening:

• Pro-life groups were disheartened by news
• Kelsey Pritchard, spokesperson for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called it “disappointing but not surprising late-term abortionist Warren Hern’s staff have simply set up shop again, aborting babies as late as 34 weeks”
• She said that nine states and District of Columbia now allow “abortion on demand with no gestational limits” as Democrats move to expand access following Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, which sent abortion decision-making to states
• “All-trimester abortion facilities have also opened in Maryland and Chicago in years after Dobbs, as these states with lax laws encourage abortion tourism and even hand out taxpayer-funded grants benefitting late-term abortion business,” Ms. Pritchard told Washington Times

Hern’s practice philosophy

Former doctor focused on fetal abnormalities but served broader clientele:

• In interviews, Dr. Hern often focused on terminating pregnancies in cases of severe fetal abnormalities that weren’t detected until third trimester
• But he also acknowledged that at least half of his late-term clients had no such diagnoses
• “The reason doesn’t really matter to Hern,” Atlantic stated in 2023 article, “The Abortion Absolutist”
• “Medical viability for fetus — or its ability to survive outside uterus — is generally considered to be somewhere from 24 to 28 weeks. Hern, though, believes that viability of fetus is determined not by gestational age but by woman’s willingness to carry it”

Research on Hern’s practice patterns

Data shows majority of late-term cases not for fetal disorders:

• Tessa Cox, senior research associate at pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, said Dr. Hern published research “showing his practice alone performed over 1,000 abortions on unborn babies 18-38 weeks’ gestation between 2000 and 2004”
• Only one-fifth of those were due to “diagnosed fetal disorder,” she said
• “Further research also indicated he completed over 700 late-term abortions on healthy unborn babies over nine years,” said Ms. Cox

Medical procedures involved

Late-term abortion techniques described:

• While Colorado has no shortage of abortion clinics, late-term terminations aren’t for faint of heart
• Dr. Hern pioneered four-day procedure in which “an injection is done on first day that stops fetal heart,” followed by removal of “uterine contents” on fourth day, as described on Boulder Abortion Clinic website
• Other late-term practices use dilation-and-evacuation methods that typically take 2-3 days
• Not even Planned Parenthood does late-term abortions
• Planned Parenthood of Rocky Mountains website says it offers surgical abortions up to 25 weeks and six days’ gestation

Alternative medical approaches

Pro-life advocate suggests hospital delivery options:

• Ms. Cox said that woman in pregnancy crisis “should be delivered in hospital with available emergency equipment, rather than abortion facility”
• “Induction or C-section gives baby chance — even if slim — to live, while addressing mother’s health risks,” she said in email
• “This is far more compassionate than late-term abortion that gives unborn child no opportunity to survive”

Statistics on late-term procedures

CDC data shows rarity of third-trimester abortions:

• Abortion-rights advocates stress that late-term procedures are rare
• About 93% of abortions are performed before 13 weeks’ gestation, while about 1% occur after 21 weeks’ gestation, according to 2022 data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Babies born at 28 weeks’ gestation have survival rate of 80-90%, while those born at 34 weeks’ have “same long-term health outcomes as babies who are delivered at full term (40 weeks),” said University of Utah Health

Financial challenges

Cost and insurance coverage issues cited:

• Dr. Hern cited financial issues in May interview with Associated Press about his decision to retire, saying that patients were having trouble paying $10,000 tab and that insurance typically doesn’t cover it
• He also said donor support has fallen
• He initially planned to keep clinic open by handing off day-to-day operations to current staff, but ultimately opted to shut down facility entirely
• “BAC was something that he created, and I don’t know if he could see it exist without him,” Ms. Moreno said

Colorado’s abortion landscape

State maintains minimal restrictions on procedure:

• In 1998, Colorado voters approved parental-notification requirement for minors seeking abortions, which remains state’s most significant restriction on procedure

Read more:

• New Colorado clinic offers third-trimester abortions for ’any reason’