PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — On Tuesday night, Pueblo City Council members discussed an ordinance that would ban abortions within city limits by opening up health care providers and women seeking treatment to legal action by out-of-town employees.

KRDO13 was in the room for the meeting Tuesday evening. The ordinance failed by a vote of 4-3 after heated comments from all council members. The decision was also greeted with applause by most of those present.

Officially, the vote on Tuesday evening was about whether the regulation should be passed to a second reading or not, but that will not be the case.

The so-called “ORDINANCE REQUIRING COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL ABORTION LAW IN PUEBLO, COLORADO” sought to pass some federal laws that would criminalize anyone who sends or receives abortion pills or abortion paraphernalia, as well as anyone who performs an abortion procedure.

However, city employees, including Pueblo police officers, would not be able to enforce or threaten to enforce the ordinance.

Instead, the regulation would have opened up those involved in the abortion process to civil lawsuits brought by private individuals.

Any person other than the state and its political subdivisions, including the city
Pueblo and any official, employee or representative of any state or local government
A corporation in this state has the power to file a civil lawsuit against anyone and may do so
Person or organization that (violates the regulation)

Direct quote from the abortion regulation

“Our own legal department says, ‘Don’t go down this path or we’ll get sued and lose.’ All you do is let the city fall over a cliff here. Dennis Flores, an at-large representative on the Pueblo City Council, said KRDO13 Investigated He is a staunch opponent of the abortion regulation.

Flores is not alone. Pueblo City Law Department staff wrote that they strongly opposed the passage of the abortion ordinance.

The Legal Department does not recommend approval of this ordinance because it violates Section 25-6.
404, CRS, which states, among other things, that the City Council shall not deny, restrict or interfere,
or discriminate against a person’s fundamental right to an abortion
Regulating the provision of benefits, facilities, services or information. Furthermore, the
The ordinance violates CRS § 31-15-103, which states in part that the City Council
shall not adopt or publish regulations inconsistent with the laws of the State
Colorado.

Legal recommendation from the background paper on the abortion regulation

“That’s like saying the city of Pueblo wants to impose a tariff on Chinese goods when we don’t have the authority to do so. This is a waste of time,” Flores said. “It’s a shame it was even put on the agenda.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sent a letter to Pueblo City Council member Sarah Martinez on September 23 saying, “Should the Pueblo City Council adopt a proposed ordinance that violates the Reproductive Health Equity Act, “The Attorney General’s Office will defend the state’s laws in this matter and seek a judicial resolution in court.”

Regina Maestri, District 1 representative on the Pueblo City Council, authored the abortion ordinance. KRDO13 Investigated Arranged several interview dates with the city council member, but waived two separate interview dates and declined to provide a statement when KRDO13 Investigated questioned why she wrote and supported an abortion ban ordinance that could not be enforced by local law enforcement and would result in a lawsuit from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

Advocates said this regulation is the only way to challenge state abortion laws.

“I think this is the only tangible way to stand up to the extremism of the state and let Pueblo make the decision. We are not interested in such extreme perspectives,” said Quin Friberg, director of Forging Pueblo.

The ordinance is intended to require compliance with current federal abortion law in Pueblo. Colorado law does not currently provide for this. Those of us who support the regulation are concerned about the health of women who use a facility that does not require regulation, is not controlled and is not bound to medical standards. Pueblo can opt out of poor abortion practices in Colorado by complying with current federal law.

Pro-Life of Southern Colorado

The Thomas More Society sent a letter to the Pueblo City Council in which the nonprofit said it would provide the city with free legal representation if it passed the abortion ordinance and was sued for it.

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