Kansas Pro-Life Advocates Press State Officials to Probe Abortionist Leroy Carhart

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 7, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Kansas Pro-Life Advocates Press State Officials to Probe Abortionist Leroy Carhart

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
August 7
, 2009

Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) — Kansas pro-life advocates are, once again, asking state officials to move forward with a probe of late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart. They say the investigation is more important now than before because Carhart is advancing plans to open a new late-term abortion business in the state.

Kansans for Life filed a complaint in 2007 with the Kansas Board of Healing Arts to examine whether or not Carhart violated state law requiring a second physician to sign off on late-term abortions.

The doctor is supposed to be independent of the abortion practitioner and is required to confirm that the late-term abortion in question complies with state law requiring it to be medically necessary.

Carhart’s abortion center would replace that of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller, who had been facing the same complaint from the state medical board at the time he was shot and killed by a gunman unaffiliated with any pro-life group.

David Gittrich, the state development director for KFL, told the Wichita Eagle that "We want our petition re-investigated."

He and other pro-life advocates held a news conference on Thursday and said the pro-life group would be collecting signatures on a petition that will become an amendment to the 2007 complaint.

Kansas Board of Healing Arts spokeswoman Kristi Pankratz would not confirm to the newspaper whether the agency is moving ahead with the complaint or has opened an investigation.

In July, another group of pro-life advocates sent Nebraska Attorney General Jon Buning a letter asking him to open a probe into whether Carhart is following state law or putting women’s health at risk in that state.

Carhart runs an abortion business in Bellevue, an Omaha suburb.

The collection of pro-life groups expressed concerns about the legality of certain aspects of Carhart’s abortion business. They are also worried about the condition of Carhart’s run-down abortion facility that was damaged by an accidental fire earlier this year.

"There is concern that this decision will create an unacceptable safety risk to women," the groups say in their July 6 letter.

"The safety of the public is our paramount concern, thus we are requesting the most comprehensive investigation of Carhart and his Nebraska abortion business as possible from the Attorney General’s office," the groups write.

The information included a complaint filed in Kansas about Carhart’s part in the third-trimester abortion death of Christin Gilbert.

Carhart was employed until its closure at Women’s Health Care Services in Wichita, Kansas, which was Tiller’s abortion center until his family closed it down following his death.

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

Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com

Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report
Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.