A woman was sent to the hospital, seemingly with a lacerated uterus, after a botched abortion at Trust Women in Wichita, Kansas.
Pro-life watchdog group Operation Rescue reported that a 911 call was made on September 17, 2024, requesting an ambulance for a woman experiencing “significant blood loss” after a 21-week abortion.
21 weeks
“So I have a – we are in a clinic, I have a [redacted] that had a, um, OB procedure, and has had significant blood loss, and is needing to go to Wesley,” the staffer said, adding, “Vitals have been stable, we have given medications to slow down the bleeding.”
The staffer then confirmed that the woman was awake, breathing, and not experiencing pain — and that the bleeding was coming from her uterus.
The computer-aided dispatch (CAD) described the injury as a “2nd TRIMESTER/ hemorrhage/ MISCARRIAGE/ THREATENED MISCARRIAGE,” and noted there were lacerations, which is a known complication of surgical abortions.
At 21 weeks, the most common surgical abortion committed is a dilation and evacuation, or D&E, abortion. During this procedure, the abortionist first inserts laminaria into the woman’s cervix, which absorbs liquid and begins the process of forcibly dilating the cervix. Typically, this takes 24 to 48 hours, though some abortionists will rush the process and attempt to complete the abortion within the same day. After the laminaria has been inserted and expanded, the woman will return to the facility and the abortionist uses a suction catheter to empty the uterus of amniotic fluid. The abortionist will then use a sopher clamp to grasp the preborn baby’s limbs and rip them from the torso, one by one. After dismembering the baby, the abortionist has to find the baby’s head and crush it. Finally, the abortionist will use a curette to scrape the woman’s uterus to ensure no fetal body parts or pregnancy tissue is left behind.
READ: FACT CHECK: Did Georgia’s pro-life law kill a young mom?
Trust Women closed temporarily due to staffing issues earlier this year but has since reopened. The facility was previously owned by the notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller and was later founded as Trust Women by Julie Burkhart, who previously worked with Tiller and was mentored by him. Burkhart was removed as CEO by the facility’s board in 2021.
Earlier this year, the new co-executive directors and the medical director of Trust Women were all unexpectedly fired, with more staffers fired later. Those who were not fired were instructed to sign non-disclosure agreements, and 10 of the facility’s 16 abortionists allegedly resigned in protest.
The abortion facility’s current medical director is Dr. Ekwensi Griffith, whose background is not in obstetrics or abortion, but in emergency medicine. His previous experience includes opening a clinic that provided services related to erectile dysfunction weight loss, and offered med spa services like Botox, CoolSculpting, and facial fillers.
