Kansas House Committee Endorses Abortion Facility Regulation Bill

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 17, 2005   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 17, 2005

Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) — A Kansas state House committee endorsed legislation that would further regulate abortion businesses in the state. Lawmakers said the bill was needed because of two recent cases of women apparently dying at a Wichita abortion facility this year.

The House Health and Human Services Committee passed the measure on a voice vote and it now heads to the full House for consideration.

Under the legislation, each medical director of an abortion facility must be a licensed surgeon and a nurse or physician’s assistant must be present for all abortions performed.

The new legislation would ensure that the seven abortion facilities in Kansas are licensed by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The abortion businesses would have to follow a slate of regulations that are similar to ones legitimate medical surgical centers must follow.

Julie Burkhart, a spokeswoman for abortion facility run by late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller, called the bill "prejudicial" because it only regulates abortion facilities.

It is at Tiller’s abortion business where women died from abortions in January and February.

Mary Kay Culp, the director of Kansans for Life, said she expected the House to vote on the measure either Thursday or Friday and for a Senate committee to take up the bill early next week.

Governor Kathleen Sebelius vetoed the measure (HB 2176) two years ago and has acknowledged that it may have contributed to the deaths.
After the death of a woman at Tiller’s Wichita Women’s Health Center on January 13, Sebelius instructed the Kansas Board of Healing Arts to investigate.

She also asked for the BOHA’s "determination of whether H.B. 2176, passed by the 2003 legislature would have in any way mitigated or prevented the patient’s death."

Culp said Sebelius’ concerns about women’s safety at abortion facilities is too late in coming.

"Governor Sebelius’ veto ignored the legislature’s informed recognition of the desperate need for effective regulation of Kansas abortion clinics, and for that she should be held accountable," Culp explained.

Related web sites:
Kansans for Life – https://www.kfl.org