By John Boren

City Council held a meeting on Monday, Nov. 29, in which all six city council members, including President Heather Graham, were present.

More citizens than average showed up for the meeting in support of various speakers during the public forum. Attendance was high because the ordinance in restrictions for the reproductive healthcare clinic opening in the Bessemer area was up for the first reading.

People spoke both for and against the ordinance. Mark Lee Dickinson is the director of Right To Life in East Texas and is the founder of the sanctuary city unborn initiative across the United States. Dickinson was brought in to help with the ordinance presented to the council earlier that day. 

Sydney Fisk was against the ordinance and brought various voting statistics that showed that the people of Colorado and Pueblo had overwhelmingly voted in favor of pro-choice and reproductive services in the past. 

Jacqueline Montez brought up the possible increase in revenue people from out of state would bring to Colorado for abortions because they would be bringing in money for gas, food and a place to stay.

Katherine Wheeler is an OBGYN doctor and compared abortions in the second trimester to roadkill deer. She also said that Carhartt wants to train as many physicians as possible while criticizing their training, saying it couldn’t compare to the six years of comprehensive training they get to be an OBGYN.

Quin Friedberg, the organizer of the movement here in Pueblo for the ordinance, spoke up and said that he got the best legal advice to help with this ordinance.

The ordinance got voted on for its first read with a majority voting in favor of it with the contingency that there is a work session on Monday, Dec. 12. and then get pushed back another two to three weeks to get voted on for the second reading. 

Several council members would like to hear more about this ordinance because it will not technically prohibit the clinic from existing in Pueblo, but it will prohibit the clinic from getting “abortion paraphernalia” inside the city and require them to go outside the city.

The council proclaimed Dec. 10 as “Human Rights Day” in Pueblo, Colorado.

After the public forum, there was a short five-minute break to allow people to leave so they didn’t have to wait and hear them list off and vote on each item on the agenda.

Mr. Friedman commented on the various items that allocated taxpayer money to nonprofits. He argued that their funding should come from the people supporting them, not the community. The entirety of the agenda was passed.

Sarah Martinez recused herself from voting on the budget because there was some funding for the health department where she works, and she was advised to recuse herself from voting on it in order to avoid conflict of interest. 

The meeting adjourned at 10:15 p.m.