Overland Park, Kansas abortionist Herbert Hodes traveled to Topeka Wednesday to testify against the abortion clinic licensing bill, but while doing so, revealed something neither the committee nor the public has ever heard–that there have been 5 maternal abortion deaths in Kansas over the past 5 years.
This bombshell admission alone should prove why Kansas needs the Abortion Clinic Licensure Act, HB 2337, which was the subject of the House Federal & State Affairs committee hearing that continues today.
So, an abortionist who came to oppose clinic licensure inadvertently gave us the very reason to pass this legislation. This begs the question if there were that many maternal abortion deaths, how many abortion injuries are occurring?
HB 2337 and its twin in the Senate, SB 165, are essentially the same legislation to regulate clinics that former Gov. Sebelius vetoed twice, claiming it was unneeded in 2003 and that it unfairly singled out abortion in 2005. HB 2337 creates abortion incident reporting to KDHE and professional boards such that the death of an aborted mother is reported within 1 business day and other injuries within 10 business days.
Unfortunately, the hearing was on a shortened time frame and committee members wanting to further question Hodes learned he would not be able to return Thursday. Some of the questions to pose would be:
1) How did Hodes hear of these deaths, and were any from his business?
2) How many deaths were reported to the state Board of Healing Arts? Kansans for Life has filed a request for this information. The only recent abortion death the public learned about was that of Christin Gilbert on Jan. 13, 2005, during a late-term abortion at the now-closed clinic of George Tiller. Was this one of the 5 deaths?
3) 5 deaths among the approximately 50,000 abortions performed in Kansas from 2006-2010 would work out to 1 death in every 10,000 abortions. [2010 figures are not yet available but assumed to be under 9,000]. This death ratio destroys the figure the abortion industry uses that abortion deaths are only 6 in 1,000,000.
Had Sebelius not vetoed the clinic bill, we could have had some factual death & injury reporting from abortion clinics, especially about the repeat ambulance runs that brought aborted women to Wesley Hospital from 2005-2007. And maybe the claim of 5 deaths would be in there. Who knows? Apparently NOBODY who can do anything about it!
Bill opponent Hodes also told the committee he supported the bill’s provision that requires physician presence for abortion by pills (RU 486 abortions by ‘webcam’) and that he refuses to do chemical abortions at his clinic because they are so dangerous since he cannot control what happens when the women leave!
Those who care about the dangers of abortion will support HB 2337. Urge your state rep and senator to vote for this long-needed bill.
LifeNews.com Note: Kathy Ostrowski is the legislative director for Kansans for Life, a statewide pro-life group.
