WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Officials in the Wichita area took what is likely to be an unsuccessful step toward halting abortions amid the coronavirus outbreak as the Kansas prison system reported its first cases in three workers.
Sedgwick County commissioners voted Wednesday to approve a recommendation to restrict abortion clinics to only essential medical procedures during the coronavirus pandemic, a move designed to stop abortions at the Trust Women Wichita Clinic.
The recommendation will go to the county’s health officer, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, where it likely will be shot down. The Kansas Supreme Court last year declared access to abortion a “fundamental” right under the state constitution.
“Women’s reproductive health is considered an essential need and health care clinics will fall under that category,” Kelly said at a news conference Wednesday.
Julie Burkhart, founder and CEO of the clinic, has called the proposal “unethical” and “unconscionable.”
But Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican and abortion opponent said: “While high-risk screenings and all elective procedures throughout the state are being canceled and doctor’s offices are struggling to survive, why should an elective abortion be an exception? Personal protective equipment is in short supply during this pandemic. Making an exception for an elective abortion is inexcusable.”