A potential new abortion clinic is generating controversy in Pueblo

Crowds packed Pueblo City Council chambers Monday night, many in protest of a possible abortion clinic. Currently, the only abortion provider in the southeastern part of the state is in Colorado Springs.

A doctor who runs an out-of-state abortion clinic purchased a commercial building in south Pueblo in September. In response to the potential abortion facility, city council member Regina Maestri proposed enacting an ordinance she said would make Pueblo a "sanctuary city for the unborn."

“I think we should take the opportunity to try to regulate and license it here in this city,” she said.

Pueblo Mayor Nick Gradisar said he’s getting lots of phone calls and emails about the clinic. 

“There's absolutely nothing that I, as the mayor, or in my judgment, you as the city council can do, (to) prevent this clinic from opening,” he said.

Gradisar said abortion is legal in Colorado and the property where the facility would be located is properly zoned for that use. 

Maestri referred to a recent action in Hobbs, New Mexico that she said could serve as a model for a similar ordinance in Pueblo.
City council is scheduled to meet with legal counsel in executive session soon to decide if they’ll take up the matter.

KRCC has reached out for comment from the doctor who purchased the clinic building but has not heard back at the time of publication.