An 18-year-old woman has died of complications from a legal second-trimester abortion at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic, according to a newly released autopsy.
The Larimer County Coroner’s office concluded in the report that “Alexis Lynn Arguello died of complications of surgical pregnancy termination,” including a “probable amniotic fluid embolism,” after the February 2025 procedure in Fort Collins.
Ms. Arguello was 21 weeks and six days pregnant when she died at a hospital after receiving a blood transfusion, the report stated.
“She experienced refractory shock and multiorgan failure and died,” wrote Joseph K. White, a forensic pathologist.
The pro-life groups Operation Rescue and Life Legal Defense Foundation obtained the report after accusing Fort Collins Coroner Stephen Hanks in a lawsuit of withholding it and attempting to redact any mention of abortion.
They also accused the Planned Parenthood staff of waiting too long to call 911, and of instructing the ambulance not to use sirens on the way to the hospital.
A Colorado district judge ordered the county to release the report, rejecting Mr. Hanks’ argument that it could undermine “Colorado’s strong public policy in favor of protecting reproductive healthcare,” according to court papers.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, noted that Colorado is one of nine states that do not limit abortion at any stage of pregnancy.
“This is a national disgrace that calls for national leadership and solutions,” Ms. Dannenfelser said in a statement. “Abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood don’t deserve a dime of taxpayer dollars.”
It remains unclear whether congressional Republicans will take any formal action against Planned Parenthood.
“The tragic death of Lexi Arguello and her child underscores that federal taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the deadly, grisly abortion industry,” Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who chairs the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, said in an emailed statement. “Funding should instead be invested in real, life-affirming, health care for women and families.”
The White House has repeatedly touted President Trump’s efforts to restrict federal funding for abortion. Additionally, the president has often taken credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices who voted to return abortion jurisdiction to the states in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling.
But the Trump administration quietly unfroze some Title X funding for Planned Parenthood in December, fueling speculation that it sees no political benefit from confronting the organization ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Kelly Sloan, a conservative lobbyist and columnist based in Denver, predicted the autopsy would at best spur “some opening of conversation about the risks of abortion.”
“What ought to happen, what should happen, is an investigation into this poor young woman’s death,” Mr. Sloan said. “That is unlikely.”
Planned Parenthood did not respond to a request for comment.
Abortion risks
While the risk of death from abortion complications increases later in pregnancy, actual fatality rates remain unclear.
Tricia Bruce, a sociologist affiliated with multiple institutions, noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped reporting abortion-related deaths last year.
“Without publicly reported statistics, cases such as this remain fodder for rumor and tragic storytelling rather than part of how states in a post-Dobbs abortion landscape monitor risk, oversight, and protection for all involved,” Ms. Bruce said.
In 2021, the CDC found that five women died out of 625,978 abortions that states reported voluntarily. The average national fatality rate from 2013 to 2021 was 0.46 per 100,000 abortions.
However, California, the nation’s largest abortion-providing state, is among several jurisdictions that long refused to report their numbers to the agency.
“It’s impossible to answer how common these emergencies are, and it is absolutely something the American people should be demanding,” said Lauren Enriquez of the pro-life Human Coalition. “The claim that abortion is ‘safe’ comes from the abortion industry.”
Mary Ziegler, a leading historian of the legal abortion debate, countered that amniotic aneurysms are rare and could happen during any pregnancy.
She noted that the autopsy said Ms. Arguello died after amniotic fluid reached her bloodstream, triggering severe organ failure, and not because of any particular surgical action.
“It could be this was just a tragedy, and there was nothing anyone did to trigger it,” said Ms. Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis. “Generally, it would behoove pro-lifers not to speculate about what they know. This is a real person who died and whose family is grieving.”
But Dr. Greg Marchand, an OBGYN surgeon based in Mesa, Arizona, rejected the idea that Ms. Arguello’s death was unpreventable.
“What happened to Lexi wasn’t a life-saving emergency,” said Dr. Marchand, who opposes second-trimester abortions. “It was elective [surgery] on a healthy 18-year-old, and she should still be here. That’s what should bother all of us, regardless of politics.”
Michael New, a social research professor at the Catholic University of America and affiliated scholar at the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, predicted that officials will do nothing to probe the incident.
“Sadly, the tragic death of Lexi Arguello and her preborn child probably will not have much effect on state politics, local politics, or Trump administration politics,” Mr. New said. “It has received very little attention outside conservative and Christian media.”
