Long before abortion became one of America’s most weaponized political issues, Planned Parenthood was simply where I went for affordable, compassionate health care and contraception as a young college student in Colorado Springs.
Like 57% of women, I carried responsibility for birth control, unintended pregnancy and the fear that one life-altering event could derail the future I was trying to build.
As I moved across Colorado – Boulder, Steamboat Springs, Silverton and eventually Durango – its presence mattered to me much like mountains, public radio stations, libraries and hot springs. It signaled a community that valued access, education, autonomy and public health.
That is why attending Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains’ May 6 community open house in Durango felt deeply personal (Herald, May 13).
Community members gathered to celebrate the reopening of a health center closed for more than a year by provider shortages and the broader rural health care crisis.
Health care workers providing contraception, cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infection testing, wellness exams, gender-affirming care and abortions have long faced harassment, threats and violence simply for doing their jobs. In many communities, including Durango, volunteer clinic escorts have even worn bulletproof vests.
In rural America – where physicians are scarce and OB-GYNs are overbooked – clinics like Planned Parenthood are essential infrastructure.
After Republicans declined to extend pandemic-era Affordable Care Act tax credits, millions of Americans dropped health coverage altogether. In communities like Durango, where lack of competition already drives up costs, losing affordable access points into health care is devastating.
Planned Parenthood’s Durango clinic closed in 2024 amid staffing and financial pressures affecting clinics nationwide (Herald, March 22, 2025). Before reopening on a limited schedule, it served about 1,200 patients annually with reproductive and sexual health care, exams and abortion services – remaining the region’s only abortion provider.
PPRM CEO Adrienne Mansanares spoke during the open house about Planned Parenthood’s commitment to providing a continuum of care throughout people’s lives – from contraception and STI testing to reproductive care, cancer screenings and menopause support.
Last month, Fort Lewis College’s Turning Point USA chapter hosted Dr. Ingrid Skop speaking on “abortion is not health care.”
But abortion is health care, as are miscarriage management, contraception and preventing unwanted pregnancies.
So are vasectomies and tubal ligations. Women seeking tubal ligations after childbirth can now face additional surgeries, costs, recovery time and lost wages because Mercy Regional Medical Center no longer performs the procedure under Catholic doctrine.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority dismantled Roe v. Wade, opening the door to this erosion of bodily autonomy.
Louisiana sued the FDA to reinstate in-person dispensing requirements, and the conservative Fifth Circuit ruled in the state’s favor, restricting mail access to mifepristone. The Trump administration declined to defend the FDA in court. On Monday, Justice Alito issued a temporary stay keeping mail distribution open until at least Thursday while the Supreme Court deliberates. If restrictions are reinstated, PPRM is prepared to pivot to a misoprostol-only protocol.
“It is not the role of courts or politicians to dictate which care options patients are allowed to consider,” Mansanares said.
PPRM is also supporting House Bill 1335, advancing this week in Colorado, requiring colleges and universities with student health centers to provide or stock medication abortion unless doing so conflicts with religious beliefs. Mifepristone has been FDA-approved for 25 years and is widely considered safe and effective by major medical organizations.
Colorado voters reinforced abortion rights in 2024 by approving Amendment 79, enshrining access into the state constitution. But rights on paper mean little without actual access to care, providers and clinics.
I remain grateful Planned Parenthood existed when I needed it as a young woman trying to build a future for myself. And I remain grateful it exists today for young people, working families, LGBTQ patients and women traveling to Colorado from states where reproductive freedom no longer exists – including 12% of the Durango clinic’s patients since reopening, arriving primarily from Texas and Arizona.
Amid escalating attacks on women’s autonomy and evidence-based medicine driven by Donald Trump, Republicans and the courts, Planned Parenthood is still doing what it has always done: providing compassionate, affordable care without judgment.
Durango should be proud it is here.
