Trust Women abortion facility, located in Wichita, Kansas, announced that it has closed temporarily, reportedly due to serious staffing problems. In addition, the abortion facility, located in the same building that was once owned and operated by deceased late-term abortionist George Tiller, said abortions would not be committed for an indefinite period of time, and all existing appointments have been canceled.
“The decision to pause operations in our clinic was made last night by the board of directors in the light of the need to ensure that Trust Women is providing optimal care … as we always have,” Sapphire Garcia, who was elected president of Trust Women’s board of directors last week, said in an interview with KMUW. “We hope that this pause is very temporary in nature.”
Reports from both pro-life and pro-abortion sources have disclosed serious issues behind closed doors. Operation Rescue, a pro-life watchdog group, and Rewire, a pro-abortion media outlet, said the co-executive directors and the medical director of Trust Women were all unexpectedly fired in April, with more staffers fired in the following weeks. Those who were allowed to stay were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements. Allegedly, 10 of the facility’s 16 abortionists resigned in protest. A new medical director has been hired, Dr. Ekwensi Griffith, but he is not an abortionist. He is an emergency medicine doctor with a background that includes opening a clinic that provides erectile dysfunction treatment and weight loss, as well as med spa services like Botox, CoolSculpting, and facial fillers.
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Garcia has not confirmed Griffith’s hiring, other than to say he served only in an advisory capacity. In addition to the staff shake-up, the Trust Women board implemented new protocols, requiring two physicians — one of which must be the medical director — to be present while abortions are being committed.
The Trust Women Foundation is owned and founded by Julie Burkhart, who previously worked for Tiller and was mentored by him. She is no longer the CEO of the facility and said she is “deeply concerned and heartbroken” to hear that abortions will not be committed. Former employees likewise said they feel betrayed.
“With two emails, Trust Women did to itself what our opponents have been trying to do for decades — they stopped abortions at Trust Women,” one former employee said. “They shut down the region’s busiest abortion clinic for no reason, other than because they wanted to and because they could.”
