Abortions Will Resume in Bozeman, Montana as Susan Wicklund Returns

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 20, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Abortions Will Resume in Bozeman, Montana as Susan Wicklund Returns Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 20
, 2008

Bozeman, MT (LifeNews.com) — Abortions are returning to the pristine mountain city of Bozeman, Montana — located just hours from Yellowstone National Park and home to Montana State University. Abortion practitioner Susan Wicklund closed her abortion business 10 years ago but a recent book tour she engaged in persuaded her to reopen.

When Wicklund closed her abortion center, women in central Montana had to travel either to Helena or Billings for abortions.

Upset that they had to make the two-three hour trip one way, Wicklund said she plans to resume doing abortions.

"Women should not have to travel over mountain passes and two-lane roads to obtain needed medical care," she told the Associated Press on Wednesday. "It breaks my heart."

Wicklund, who is 54, will be stopping the beating hearts of unborn children after traveling to other Montana cities to do abortions on occasion. She confirmed she will do surgical abortions up to 14 weeks into pregnancy.

She indicated she sometimes did abortions in Kalispell, a northwestern Montana city more than five hours form Bozeman, only to find local residents having abortions there.

Wicklund operated the Mountain Country Women’s Clinic abortion business from 1993 to 1998 but closed up shop to move to the Midwest to care for her ailing mother.

Abortion activists have offered to lease her space to open the facility and she already has volunteers who will assist her in running the abortion business.

LifeNews.com contacted Gregg Trude of Right to Life of Montana for a comment and he had not responded by press time.

He did tell AP that the travel time women considering abortions incurred likely helped some revisit their decision and seek alternatives.

"Am I disappointed she’s opening one up? Yes. Girls in Bozeman had to travel, and that gave them a chance to think about a sometimes emotional decision," he said.

There were 2,119 abortions in 2006 in Montana with 1,930 done on Montana residents and the rest done on women from neighboring states. Bozeman residents had 220 of the abortions.