Pro-life groups in Kansas rallied against late-term abortion provider Dr. LeRoy Carhart after the Nebraska abortionist repeated his desire to start an abortion clinic in Kansas.

Last week at a press conference, Carhart reiterated he would prefer to open a new facility in Wichita that offered late-term abortions rather than provide them at his existing abortion clinic in Bellevue, Neb.

Carhart worked alongside Dr. George Tiller to provide the controversial procedure at Tiller’s Wichita clinic, which was permanently closed after Tiller’s murder.

Kansans for Life is in the process of providing the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts with new information relating to a 2007 complaint Kansans for Life filed against a group of physicians, including Carhart, who were involved in the abortion industry. The group is requesting that the board further investigate the complaint.

Kristi Pankratz, public information officer with the board, said that because complaints are kept confidential, she could not discuss whether the board was looking into the request.  Generally speaking, Pankratz said it is possible to launch a new investigation into a complaint if new information is brought forth.

Complaints filed with the board only become public if disciplinary action has been filed, and so far Carhart has no disciplinary action taken against him on record at the Board of Healing Arts.

Operation Rescue, which is based in Wichita, has started an online petition against Carhart’s intentions to relocate. The group’s president, Troy Newman, plans to deliver the petition to Wesley Medical Center, which he identified as the only hospital in Kansas “that would allow such an arrangement with abortionists.”

Abortionists need to secure a hospital where patients can be transferred if complications arise.

“We have confirmed that Carhart does not currently have an arrangement with Wesley Medical Center or any other local area hospital,” Newman said.  “Therefore we are petitioning Wesley to deny any attempts by Carhart and his associates to establish an agreement or plan for patient transport and/or admission to Wesley.”

The petition is part of a “Keep it Closed” campaign to ensure that Carhart does not resume his late-term abortion services in any state. The campaign also recently sent a request to the Nebraska attorney general’s office, urging an in-depth investigation into Carhart’s abortion clinic.

Newman signed the formal request along with other members of the pro-life movement, including Rev. Pat Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition; Larry Donlan, director of Rescue the Heartland in Omaha, Neb.; and Ann Bowen, president of Nebraskans United for Life.

The Nebraska Right to Life group is also maintaining a close watch on Carhart.

Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, said she has been staying in contact with the Nebraska attorney general’s office to urge Attorney General Jon Bruning to investigate Carhart’s Nebraska abortion clinic, as well as abortion practices at the Lincoln Planned Parenthood facility.

“We have met with him several times and asked him to look into the issue of statutory rape not being reported at either facility,” Schmit-Albin told Kansas Liberty.

According to a transcript of a press conference Carhart gave shortly after Tiller’s murder, Carhart said he would prefer to open a new facility in Kansas to provide late-term abortion services rather than offer the procedure at his existing clinic because of how Nebraska’s law on viability is written. The transcript was published on the Nebraska Right to Life website.

“It’s much cheaper to go build a new clinic in Kansas than to try and determine what viability means in Nebraska,” Carhart said at the press conference, according a report in the Wichita Eagle.

Resources

Operation Rescue
http://www.operationrescue.org/

Kansans for Life
www.kfl.org

Nebraska Right to Life
http://www.nerighttolife.org

The Week in Review