Warren Hern retires, closing Boulder’s historic abortion clinic

After more than five decades in operation, Boulder’s first abortion clinic has closed. The Boulder Abortion Clinic, led by Dr. Warren Hern, was Colorado’s first and one of the few in the country to offer late-term abortion care.

Hern, 86, has been an outspoken advocate for maintaining access to later abortion procedures, which are almost always performed because a woman’s health or life is at risk. For years, he has been a target of threats and harassment. In one instance, a gunman fired five bullets through the clinic’s window. In 2009, a close friend of his, also an abortion provider, was murdered because of his work.

“Although I love my work, I have wanted for years to be free from the operating room and the daily cares of a private medical practice. When I have a patient, I can’t do anything else. Nothing else matters while her life is at stake. I must now leave this sacred commitment to others,” Dr. Hern wrote in a statement on his website.

In an interview with Boulder Reporting Lab in early 2024, he said the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade had significantly affected his practice. “For a while we were seeing about as twice as many patients as we normally do,” he said, adding that with his small practice and limited staff, the situation was untenable. “There’s a limit to how many patients we can see, so we’re scheduled several weeks out now, which is very bad for patients.”

He also spoke about protesters. “In front of my office all the time harassing patients,” he said.

These protesters, Hern said, aim to make people feel guilty and ashamed without understanding the scope of the patients’ circumstances.

“A very large proportion of my patients would rather have a baby than have an abortion,” he said. “They’re here because they have a difficult, complicated pregnancy that may be threatening their life.”

When Boulder Reporting Lab spoke to Hern again late last year — after Donald Trump was reelected president and Colorado voters passed a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights — he said demand for care from out-of-state patients had risen as abortion became less accessible. His funding was also falling. “We’re operating under tremendous stress,” he said. Many women who came to the clinic were low-income, and Hern didn’t turn anyone away. “They don’t have bus fare, and these procedures that we’re doing are very expensive,” he said.

The Boulder Abortion Fund, a separate charitable organization that helps patients cover travel and medical costs at the clinic and elsewhere, remains in operation. Representatives say they are still figuring out a way forward. “There is an overwhelming dedication to continue working in this field,” they said.