A 71-year-old Learns About the Republican Fountain of Youth

Did you know that in Colorado, Republicans have a “Resolution Process” in which registered Republicans can suggest policy ideas to the state and national Republican Party? I discovered this process when I was invited to attend the March 3, 2026 Republican precinct caucus in my neighborhood and propose a resolution. I did so, and the 11 attendees at my precinct caucus gave feedback and suggested a second resolution to submit – and eight of the 11 caucus attendees asked to be co-sponsors of both resolutions when they were submitted. How is this the “Fountain of Youth” for Republicans, you might ask? It is a way for Party leaders to keep an ear to the ground and be rejuvenated with awareness of grassroots voters' concerns regarding policies and issues. An example follows, after reviewing a bit of background information just below.

Something else that the public is allowed to do, regardless of party affiliation, is to request 911 call records. That allowed me to learn that there were seven ambulance calls in 2025 to the Planned Parenthood clinic at 825 S Shields St, Fort Collins, Colorado, as well as four more in the first three months of 2026. Go to tinyurl.com/emergency911callinftcollins to learn that six of the seven in 2025 were classified as medical emergencies like hemorrhaging, perforated uterus, and life-threatening situations.  You can listen to public testimony by Dr. Kari Kasun at tinyurl.com/18yroldabortiondeath (timestamp 12:16:45 to 12:17:25), who told a Colorado Legislative assembly committee on August 11, 2025 about the 18-year-old girl taken by ambulance on Feb 6, 2025 after an abortion at that abortion clinic - who died later that day in Poudre Valley Hospital. No sirens or flashing lights were used by the ambulance during transport. Dr. Kasun said of the abortion industry, “They don’t want minimum reporting requirements or accountability. I would consider that ‘back-alley’, and it elicits back-alley behaviors such as the silent-siren”.  The Emergency Medical Services Association of Colorado (EMSAC) permits silent-siren for non-medical-emergency transport. But lights and sirens play a vital role in true life-threatening emergencies.

Here is the final version of the ambulance-response resolution I authored with eight co-sponsors: “SUPPORTING TRANSPARENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE AT ABORTION CLINICS: WHEREAS, emergency medical transports should use appropriate warning signals such as flashing lights and sirens to promote safety, transparency, and timely emergency response when transporting patients experiencing medical emergencies; THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Republican Party supports policies requiring emergency ambulance responses associated with clinics that perform abortions to utilize appropriate emergency signals, including flashing lights and sirens, when responding to and transporting patients in medical emergencies. Submitted by Lloyd Benes”

That Resolution submission evoked amazed feedback from the resolution committee, “I wanted you to know that you educated those of us who had no idea that the ambulances don’t use their lights/siren! It was shocking to the committee members…”. It is one among 17 resolutions voted on by hundreds of Republican delegates at the Larimer County Republican Assembly. To read all of those yourself, go to tinyurl.com/assemblyproposedresolutions.

Even though I am 71 years old and have lived in Colorado for nearly half a century, it was not until last month that I learned that this resolution process exists to uncover policy concerns of grassroots Republican voters. The resolution process was initiated over 115 years ago in 1910 for Colorado Republicans - so you might say I am a late bloomer.

Call to Action: If you were shocked about ambulance-response like the resolution committee please consider giving feedback directly to the Colorado Legislature by providing information from this article to your own Colorado state Senate or House member at https://leg.colorado.gov/find-my-legislator (where you enter your address). That website gives the legislator’s email and phone contact information.  Feedback on this article can be sent to the author at lloydbenes50@gmail.com