The Infuriating and Inspiring Story Behind the Opening of a Red-State Abortion Clinic
The Infuriating and Inspiring Story Behind the Opening of a Red-State Abortion Clinic
This woman's struggle will make your blood boil.
Becca AndrewsAug. 1, 2016 6:00 AM
Julie Burkhart wondered if her impression of Catholic nuns as quiet, meek, shy women was all wrong.
Burkhart is opening an abortion clinic in Oklahoma City, and it's located in the same neighborhood as St. James the Greater Catholic Church. A few months ago, members of the church began holding lunchtime protests at the construction site, and one bold nun entered the clinic to harass construction workers. Then the nun demanded a meeting with Burkhart.
"I went out and I told her, 'Well, you're never to walk onto this property unless you're invited, and I don't think we really have a lot to talk about,'" Burkhart said firmly.
Angry nuns aren't the only problem that the clinic operator has had to contend with when trying to open the first new abortion clinic in Oklahoma since 1974. It's been a time-consuming, costly enterprise in a state that has, Burkhart notes, a number of "prohibitive anti-choice laws." Gov. Mary Fallin has signed 20 anti-abortion bills over the course of her six-year tenure, including measures that tripled the waiting period from 24 to 72 hours and banned the use of telemedicine to administer medication abortion. Although this year she vetoed one that would have made it a felony to provide abortions except in cases of miscarriage or when a woman's life is in danger, she did so because the language in the legislation was "vague." (Removing fetal matter after a miscarriage does not medically qualify as abortion, despite the legislation's definition of it as such.) Legal experts contend the bill could not have survived a constitutional challenge anyway.
More:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/cost-opening-abortion-clinic-red-state
