Aurora Planned Parenthood Closes After 35 Years, Marisol Health Mobile Brings Hope

A few Respect Life volunteers gathered to pray and witness to life on Tuesday, offering tours to those interested of the new Marisol Health Mobile unit, a collaboration between Marisol Health, a ministry of Catholic Charities, and Save the Storks. (Photo provided)

On Tuesday, September 9, a small crowd gathered outside the Planned Parenthood in Aurora to pray quietly and fervently. After 35 years of operation, the facility had closed its doors, and local Catholics came together to mark the moment with rosaries, white roses and prayers of thanksgiving after 40 days of intercession.

With a few dozen in attendance, the time of prayer and witness was peaceful and hopeful. The group prayed the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayers of gratitude for lives saved over the years through the witness of countless hours of prayer at that location. White roses were laid in memory of the children lost to abortion and in thanksgiving for mothers who chose life.

A sign of hope

In stark contrast to the now-defunct Planned Parenthood location, the newly launched Marisol Health Mobile unit was also on site, offering tours to those present.

The mobile clinic, a collaboration between Marisol Health and Save the Storks, brings life-affirming medical care and support directly into neighborhoods where it is most needed. Staffed by medical professionals and advocates, the clinic provides free pregnancy testing, first-trimester ultrasounds, counseling and connections to the wider Marisol and Catholic Charities network, all across Northern Colorado — at community events, on college campuses and at businesses that support Marisol's mission.

For many, the presence of Marisol Mobile at the site of the former abortion clinic was a powerful symbol of hope.

“People seemed so excited to see the Planned Parenthood signs down, and the Marisol Mobile was a great sign of hope for the community of Aurora and beyond,” said Lisa Blevins, campaign leader of Aurora 40 Days for Life and a parishioner at Ave Maria Parish in Parker.

Blevins described one especially moving moment: “One of the most hopeful and inspiring moments today was witnessing nearby high school students stop to talk and take a tour of the mobile clinic. They learned about the potential for its life-saving efforts and even inquired about having it brought to their local high school. You could sense the joy and excitement of what the future holds with this new way to reach the most vulnerable and educate the wider community throughout Colorado.”

Witnesses to life

Other attendees expressed similar sentiments.

"I was elated so much by the news of the Aurora Planned Parenthood closing. It was prayers answered," said Theresa Aksamit, a parishioner of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Aurora.

Tom Wanzeck, a parishioner at Our Lady of Loreto in Foxfield, shared that the arrival of the mobile clinic “will be a blessing to the community, providing desperately needed women's services in a very visible way.”

For 15-year-old Stephanie, the encounter with Marisol Mobile was eye-opening: “When I saw that it was women’s health services, I was intrigued. I think that it is beautiful that they offer free services for women and that they care so much about women’s health.”

Carrying the mission forward

For Teresa Gomez, program director for Marisol Health Mobile, the mission is rooted in the Gospel.

“The mission of the Marisol Health Mobile is analogous to the parable of the lost sheep in the Gospel in which Jesus leaves the 99 to go after the one,” she said. “Our mission is to go into neighborhoods in need to find the one woman who is alone and scared and feels she has no other option but to have an abortion, and to bring her support and hope.

“Today there was a palpable sense of hope — the kind of hope that has sustained decades of prayer at this facility and that is now carried forward by the new Marisol Mobile — the kind of hope that ultimately comes only from our Savior, who is with us every step of the way in this battle for life,” she added.

Amid today's prevalent culture of death, the pro-life movement — especially in Colorado, which has seen an alarming 89% increase in abortions since Dobbs v. Jackson, the landmark Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade — clings to the hope that only Christ can bring and carries that hope forward in creative new ways, in order to reach each and every one of his children. Marisol Mobile is just one example of that hope-filled creativity.

"As the landscape has changed in our state since the Dobbs decision, we must be creative and bold with how we reach women," Gomez explained. "The Mobile allows us to meet abortion vulnerable and determined women right where they are — providing compassion, support, and hope."

Even still, the pro-life mission of prayer, witness and accompaniment remains vital. Though the doors of one Planned Parenthood facility seem to be shuttered for good, there is much left to be done to build a culture of life in which every person is seen, known and loved.

As the Archdiocese of Denver, Catholic Charities and Marisol Health continue their mission, the call remains clear: to pray, to accompany and to support women and families with compassion. With Planned Parenthood gone from Aurora, the presence of Marisol Health Mobile marks not an end but a new beginning — one rooted in hope, dignity and the love of Christ.

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A new initiative, Marisol Mobile is in need of support: both financial and prayerful. To learn more about Marisol Mobile's mission, visit ccdenver.org/marisol-mobile/. To support the mission financially, visit ccdenver.org/donate/ and select "Marisol Mobile" from the drop down menu.