>>> IN JANUARY 2013 JULIE BURKHART WAS CAMPED OUT AT THE
SITE OF GEORGE TILLER’S
SHUTTERED CLINIC SURROUNDED BY
CONTRACTORS AND A CREW OF
LAWYERS AND ACTIVISTS INTENT ON
BRINGING ABORTION ACCESS BACK TO
WICHITA.
WICHITA. NOW SIX YEARS LATER THEY’VE
ACCOMPLISHED THAT AND THEN SOME.
WHEN SHE SETOUT TO REOPEN IT
JULIE BURKHART WAS NOT SURE
ANYONE WOULD WANT TO COME TO
THIS CLINIC AGAIN, THE PLACE
THAT FOR DECADES HAD BEEN THE
EPICENTER OF AMERICA’S OFTEN
VIOLENT ABORTION WARS.
BUT LIKE GEORGE TILLER HAD
ALWAYS SAID, WOMEN NEED
ABORTIONS AND PEOPLE DID COME TO
THE CLINIC.
THE CLINIC. IN FACT SO MANY PEOPLE CAME THAT
THREE YEARS AFTER SHE GOT DR.
TILLER’S CLINIC BACK UP AND
RUNNING AGAIN IN WICHITA JULIE
OPENED ANOTHER CLINIC THREE
HOURS SOUTH IN OKLAHOMA CITY.
IT WAS A FIGHT TO GET EACH
CLINIC OPEN.
CLINIC OPEN. MOST DAYS JULIE SAYS IT STILL
FEELS LIKE A FIGHT TO KEEP THEM
OPEN.
OPEN. >> BETWEEN THESE TWO STATES, YOU
KNOW, WE HAVE THINGS COMING AT
US ALL THE TIME.
WHETHER IT’S PROTESTERS, WHAT
THE STATE LEGISLATORS WANT TO
DO, WHAT WE HAVE GOING ON, YOU
KNOW, RUNNING THROUGH THE
JUDICIARY.
JUDICIARY. THERE MIGHT BE PATIENT ISSUES,
FUNDING ISSUES, PHYSICIAN
RECRUITMENT ISSUES.
RECRUITMENT ISSUES. PEOPLE STILL DON’T WANT TO
NECESSARILY COME TO WICHITA.
PEOPLE STILL TEN YEARS AFTER DR.
TILLER’S ASSASSINATION STILL
VIEWS WICHITA AS BEING THIS VERY
VIOLENT VOLATILE COMMUNITY.
AND I GET THAT BUT IT MAKES IT
DIFFICULT FOR US IN TERMS OF
RECRUITING DOCTORS.
RECRUITING DOCTORS. I STILL DON’T HAVE ANY
PHYSICIANS WHO LIVE IN WICHITA
OR LIVE IN OKLAHOMA CITY.
SO ALL THESE YEARS LATER WE
STILL FLY PEOPLE IN.
>> ALL THESE YEARS LATER WE
STILL FLY PEOPLE IN.
SHE HAS TO FLY DOCTORS IN TO
WICHITA AND OKLAHOMA CITY EVERY
WEEK TO SEE PATIENTS.
ANGELA MARCHIN IS ONE OF THOSE
DOCTORS.
DOCTORS. >> I’M FROM THE MIDWEST SO I HAD
THOUGHTS OF MOVING BACK TO THE
MIDWEST.
MIDWEST. I DON’T FEEL IT’S SAFE FOR ME TO
LIVE IN A PLACE WHERE I WOULD
CONSTANTLY BE UNDER THREAT OF
VIOLENCE OR HARM.
>> SO YOU WOULDN’T FEEL SAFE
LIVING IN WICHITA AND WORKING
HERE?
HERE? >> NO.
>> NO. >> THIS SETUP WHERE CLINICS DO
NOT HAVE IN-TOWN DOCTORS, THIS
IS VERY COMMON IN THE STATES
WHERE ABORTION ACCESS IS ALREADY
MOST VULNERABLE.
MOST VULNERABLE. AND AT LEAST HALF A DOZEN
REPUBLICAN LED STATES WHERE
THERE ARE VERY FEW OR EVEN JUST
ONE REMAINING CLINIC THE
ATMOSPHERE IS SEEN AS SO HOSTILE
TO ABORTION CLINICS DOCTORS ARE
NOT ABLE TO FIND ANY LOCAL
DOCTORS WHO WILL DO THE JOB,
JUST LIKE JULIE IS DOING THEY
FLY DOCTORS IN FROM OTHER
STATES.
STATES. AND THAT MAKES THOSE CLINICS
EVEN MORE VULNERABLE TO GETTING
SHUTDOWN BY THE CRETTIVE AND
AGGRESSIVE ANTI-ABORTION FORCES.
THERE’S A WHOLE CLASS OF LAWS
KNOWN AS TRAP LAWS, T-R-A-P
REGULATIONS DESIGNED FOR ONE
PURPOSE, TO SHUTDOWN PORTION
CLINIC BECAUSE CLINICS AREN’T
SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO COMPLY
WITH THESE REQUIREMENTS.
ONE OF THE MORE INFASHIONED TRAP
LAWS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS
IS A RULE OF REQUIRING ABORTION
DOCTORS TO HAVE ADMITTING
PRIVILEGES AT A NEARBY HOSPITAL
WHEREVER THEY’RE PRACTICE.
THERE’S NO MEDICAL REASON FOR
THIS.
THIS. ABORTION IS RELATIVELY SAFE LOW
RISK PROCEDURE THAT IN MOST
CASES CAN BE DONE IN A DOCTORS
OFFICE.
OFFICE. COMPLICATIONS THAT REQUIRE
HOSPITALIZATION ARE VERY RARE,
AND EVEN IN THOSE VERY RARE
CASES THE DOCTOR WHO PERFORMS
THE PROCEDURE DOESN’T NEED
ADMITTING PRIVILEGES TO SEND A
PATIENT TO THE HOSPITAL.
IN A PLACE LIKE WICHITA OR
OKLAHOMA CITY WHERE THE DOCTORS
DO NOT LIVE IN THE STATES WHERE
THEY DO ABORTIONS, IT’S
IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO GET
ADMITTING PRIVILEGES AT A LOCAL
HOSPITAL.
HOSPITAL. BUT THAT’S OF COURSE THE POINT.
THE POINT IS NOT THAT DOCTORS
SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET THOSE
PRIVILEGES.
PRIVILEGES. THE POINT OF THESE LAWS IS THAT
DOCTORS WON’T GET THEM, AND SO
THAT CAN BE USED AS AN EXCUSE TO
LEGALLY BAN THAT DOCTOR FROM
PERFORMING ABORTIONS OR TO
SHUTDOWN THE CLINICS WHERE THEY
WOULD HAVE DONE SO.
WE’VE SEEN THIS PLAY OUT.
IN TEXAS IN 203 THE REPUBLICAN
STATE GOVERNMENT THERE PASSED AN
ADMITTING PRIVILEGES TRAP LAW.
AS A RESULT HALF THE CLINICS IN
THAT STATE WERE FORCED TO
SHUTDOWN.
SHUTDOWN. THREE YEARS LATER THE SUPREME
COURT THREW OUT THAT TRAP LAW IN
TEXAS IN A 5-3 DECISION.
THEY R50U8ED IT DID NOTHING TO
PROTECT WOMENS HETH BUT IT DID
PUT A SUBSTANTIAL BURDEN ON
WOMENS ABILITY TO ACCESS
ABORTION, SO THAT LAW WAS
OVERTURNED.
OVERTURNED. SINCE THEN PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS
MADE TWO U.S. APPOINTMENT
TUESDAY THE SUPREME COURT AND
THERE’S A NEW FLASHING RED LIGHT
WARNING SIGN THAT THE NEW
CONSERVATIVE COURT WANTS TO
ANOTHER LOOK AT THIS PARTICULAR
BRAND OF TRAP LAW.
THE COURT HAS NOW TAKEN UP AN
IDENTICAL TRAP LAW TO THE TEXAS
ONE THEY THREW OUT.
THE CASE IS SET TO BE DECIDED BY
THE SUPREME COURT IN JUNE.
THE EXPECTATION IS THAT THIS
NEWLY CONSTITUTED COURT WILL
CHANGE COURSE ON THAT TRAP LAW.
THE EXPECTATION IS THEY’RE GOING
TO SAY THAT TRAP LAW IS OKAY NOW
EVEN IF THE RESULT IS THE
IMMEDIATE WHOLESALE SHUTDOWN OF
CLINICS.
CLINICS. SO WHEN JULIE BURKHART SAYS SHE
FEELS LIKE THERE’S OPPOSITION
COMING AT HER ALL THE TIME, THIS
IS WHAT SHE MEANS.
FIRST ANTI-ABORTION THREATS AND
TERRORISM AND VIOLENCE HAVE MADE
HER CITY AN UNSAFE PLACE FOR
LOCAL DOCTORS TO PRACTICE
ABORTION.
ABORTION. SO HER WORK AROUND IS FLYING
DOCTORS IN FROM OUT SOF STATE.
BUT NOW THE NEW CONSERVATIVE
MAJORITY ON THE SUPREME COURT
LOOKS POISED TO USE THAT VERY
FACT SHE CENT GET LOCAL DOCTORS
AT HER CLINIC AS A REASON TO
SHUT HER DOWN, TO END ABORTION