A Colorado teenager died last year following severe complications from a second-trimester abortion performed at a Planned Parenthood clinic, according to a newly released coroner’s report.
Alexis Arguello, who was 18 and approximately 22 weeks pregnant at the time of her abortion, died on Feb. 6, 2025, following blood clotting complications after a surgical abortion procedure performed at the Fort Collins Planned Parenthood, the coroner’s report released Tuesday said.
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Colorado has some of the most permissive abortion laws in the country, allowing abortion through all 40 weeks of pregnancy. As of 2023, the most up-to-date state data, there were nearly 14,700 abortions in Colorado, with roughly 3% after 21 weeks.
The autopsy report found that Arguello died from disseminated intravascular coagulation, or DIC, a rare but life-threatening blood clotting complication from surgical abortion procedures.
DIC can occur from amniotic fluid embolism, where fetal components and amniotic fluid enter the bloodstream and trigger an inflammatory response. Roughly 80% of amniotic fluid embolism cases result in DIC, according to the National Institutes of Health.
According to the autopsy, Arguello’s blood pressure dropped, and she experienced rapid heartbeats while in the waiting room after the surgical abortion was complete. She received blood transfusions while in the hospital, but treatment was insufficient.
A report from the anti-abortion organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America published at the time of Arguello’s death alleges that Planned Parenthood staff were negligent in caring for her once she began experiencing symptoms.
Arguello’s grandparents told SBA Pro-Life America that staff “waited too long to call for help and they specifically requested no sirens on the ride to the hospital.”
The new information is the culmination of a protracted open records investigation launched by the hard-line anti-abortion group Operation Rescue to obtain Arguello’s full and unredacted autopsy report from the Larimer County Coroner’s office.
Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, filed an open records request with Larimer County to obtain Arguello’s full autopsy report in November after being given a redacted copy upon his initial request.
The coroner, Stephen Hanks, justified the redactions by citing “Colorado’s strong public policy in favor of protecting reproductive healthcare” as well as patient privacy laws.
The dispute went to court, where a state district court judge ruled in April that autopsy reports are subject to state public record disclosure laws, regardless of any political fallout from the release of the report.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement following the release of the autopsy that Arguello’s death is “a national disgrace that calls for national leadership and solutions.”
“Lexi Arguello’s autopsy is definitive: Another young mom has been killed by abortion and Planned Parenthood,” Dannenfelser said. “Arguello’s death isn’t just a tragedy, it is a pattern of callousness on the part of America’s largest abortion business.”
Dannenfelser referenced in her statement the work of congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), to pass a one-year pause on federal Medicaid reimbursement from large abortion providers in last year’s partisan spending bill.
“Abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood don’t deserve a dime of taxpayer dollars,” Dannenfelser said.
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Federal reimbursements for non-abortion services offered at Planned Parenthood and other clinics are set to resume in July.
The Washington Examiner contacted Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains for comment.
