Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-841-1700; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue; info.operationrescue@gmail.com  

WICHITA, Kan., Jan. 23, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ -- Operation Rescue has launched an online petition to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback asking him to instruct Attorney General Derek Schmidt to defend a 2011 abortion clinic licensing law that has languished in state court without action for nearly two years. If enacted, the law could close 3 out of 4 Kansas abortion clinics.

Brownback is known as an ardent pro-life supporter.

"We are appealing to Gov. Brownback to get to the bottom of why this law isn't being defended," said Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Policy Advisor for Operation Rescue. "Abortion clinics operating under documentable sub-standard conditions continue to run amok in Kansas without accountability. Reports are that Kansas has spent a million dollars defending pro-life legislation.  I don't think we are getting our money's worth."

The constitutionality of the law was challenged by a father-daughter team of abortionists, Herbert Hodes and Tracy Nauser, of Overland Park. The duo refused to submit to a required initial licensing inspection and originally filed sued in Federal Court. They later dropped that suit and refiled in state court.

Another abortion clinic, Aid for Women, also known as Central Family Medical, in Kansas City, operates under such abysmal conditions that it failed to qualify for licensure before the law was enjoined. Operation Rescue uncovered multiple abortion violations at that clinic during an investigation there in 2012 - after the clinic licensing law was passed and enjoined - proving the urgent need for the new standards.

A third Kansas abortion clinic, South Wind Women's Center, which opened last April inside Tiller's former abortion building, would never have been allowed to open had the 2011 law been in effect because it cannot meet the minimum safety requirement that abortionist provide continuity of care in the event of medical emergencies by maintaining local hospital privileges.

"It is just wrong for the Judicial branch to over-ride the Legislative and Executive branches, not on constitutional or legal grounds, but through providing a place where a law can be blocked via a temporary order that goes on forever without further hearing or final disposition. That is a subversion of the process," said Sullenger. "Meanwhile, abortion clinics continue to operate under substandard conditions that endanger the lives and health of women. It's an injustice that needs to be remedied immediately."

Read and sign the petition (Need not live in Kansas)

Background

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