Will Kansas become the first state in the nation without an abortion provider? The once-unthinkable could happen by Friday when a host of new state regulations takes effect. These detailed rules govern everything from the minimum size of the janitors’ closets to which drugs sit on the stockroom shelves.
Clearly, these are the kinds of standards that can take months or years to meet. How much time did the state give Kansas’ three clinics?
Two weeks. Just two weeks to comply with hundreds of requirements , or get shut down. Apparently the state of Kansas will brook no delays when it comes to protecting women from the threat of undersized broom-closets.
One clinic, Kansas City’s Aid for Women, has already been told it doesn’t meet the new standards. Another, the Center for Women’s Health in Overland Park, has cancelled its inspection and filed a federal lawsuit to block the rules . The third is a Planned Parenthood branch also located in Overland Park. The head of that clinic says it is in compliance with the new requirements — but still expects to get denied.
“We believe without question that the intent is to shut down abortion clinics in Kansas, so we are preparing to be in court,” Peter B. Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, told the New York Times.
As providers lawyer up to defend themselves yet again, lawmakers in other states are following in Kansas’ footsteps. According to the Guttmacher Institute, twenty states have introduced bills targeting abortion providers for special regulation this year. Be ready for a rash of new standards across the country to deny women their rights – all in the name of “protecting” them from harm.
