Kansas Abortions Increase 6.5 Percent in 2006, First Rise Since 2001 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 1, 2007
Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) — New statistics from the Kansas health department show the number of abortions in 2006 went up 6.5 percent versus the numbers from 2005. Pro-life groups say the increase likely has to do with the failure to uphold laws limiting late-term abortions and the dismissal of charges against a late-term abortion practitioner.
The increase is the first time since 2001 that the state has shown a rise in the number of abortions there.
According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment report, released Thursday, there were 11,221 abortions in Kansas in 2006, up from 10,543 abortions in 2005. The report showed that 52 percent of the abortions were on Kansas residents and a high number of 48 percent were done on women living out of state.
The out of state abortions are done typically on women who come from across the country to the abortion business run by George Tiller, one of the few late-term abortion practitioners in the country. The state health report showed that 233 abortions were done on babies that were past the point of viability.
The state health department recorded 12,422 abortions in 2001 and the number had dropped ever since.
The abotion increase contrasts with an eight percent decrease in the number of abortions done in 2005 compared to the 2004 figures.
According to a Lawrence Journal World news story, health officials said they don’t know why the number of abortions increased this year.
But pro-life advocates suspect it has to do with a lack of enforcement of laws limiting late-term abortions and a court’s decision to drop 30 misdemeanor charges against Tiller, who has been accused of doing the abortions without a legitimate medical reason.
Tiller was also not charged in the death of Cristin Gilbert, a mentally disabled Texas teenager who he killed two years ago in a botched abortion.
Read the report at https://www.kdheks.gov/hci/abortion_sum/06itop1.pdf
Related web sites:
Kansans for Life – https://www.kfl.org
