Access To Abortion Services In Kansas Hindered After Closure Of Tiller's Clinic

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 11 Jun 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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After the murder of abortion provider George Tiller and the closure of his Wichita, Kan., clinic, residents of the city face about a three-hour drive to the nearest abortion provider, a distance experts say is not uncommon for access to abortion services in southern and midwestern states, the Wichita Eagle reports. Jenny O'Donnell of the Abortion Access Project said that southern and midwestern states have the heaviest restrictions on abortion, adding that "substantial populations don't have an abortion provider" in states such as Mississippi and Arkansas. According to 2005 statistics from the Guttmacher Institute, 87% of U.S. counties have no abortion provider; the figure rises to 94% of counties in the Midwest and 96% of counties in Kansas. The number of abortion providers in Kansas declined from 15 in 1992 to seven in 2005, while the number of providers nationwide dropped from 2,380 to 1,787 over the same time period, according to Guttmacher. Experts say the decline is the result of several factors, including public pressures, increased regulation that has driven up the cost and complexity of providing abortion and a general trend in the health care industry toward consolidated, more specialized practices.

Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, said that the decrease in the number of abortion providers is misleading on some levels. The decline primarily has occurred among hospitals and small providers who perform a few procedures a year, while major clinics that specialize in abortion have remained essentially stable, Saporta said. Peter Brownie, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said that the group's clinics have experienced an increase in contacts from women from south-central Kansas since Tiller's clinic closed a little more than one week ago. He added, "At the present time, there's no place between Denver and Kansas City where a woman can obtain abortion care. That's a significant barrier for women throughout the state that have that need." NAF has established a national hotline to offer referrals for women who have to make new arrangements for abortion care because of the closure of Tiller's clinic, Saporta said (Lefler, Wichita Eagle, 6/9).

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