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CV News Feed // Operation Rescue, Students for Life America, and Family Council Arkansas have warned that Planned Parenthood’s expansion in Kansas along the borders of several pro-life states is set to skyrocket the number of abortions in the Sunflower State, potentially exceeding next year the population of one of Kansas’ border towns.
In a press conference on September 10, held in front of Planned Parenthood’s new facility in Pittsburg, KS, pro-life leaders noted that last year the number of abortions in Kansas are estimated to have risen to 20,550, roughly equal to the number of residents in the border town of Pittsburg.
Commenting on the magnitude of the number of deaths, Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President Emeritus of Operation Rescue, stated, “That may not mean a lot to people, but it should mean something to the people of Pittsburg, Kansas, because it’s approximately equal to the population of this city.”
She pointed out that last year, “in Kansas alone, the abortionists in this state aborted essentially the equivalent of every man, woman, and child in the city of Pittsburg.”
Pro-life leaders warned that within a year, the number of children killed by abortion in Kansas is projected to exceed the population of the entire town of Pittsburg. Using the Guttmacher estimates for 2023, which showed a 27% increase in abortion, and applying that same formula for 2024, Sullenger predicted the number of babies killed by abortion in Kansas would be in excess of 26,000 in 2024. That estimate did not factor in the abortions that would be conducted at the new Pittsburg clinic, which will potentially increase the number of abortions significantly by targeting babies and women in four separate states.
Planned Parenthood’s new facility is less than two miles from the campus of Pittsburg State University, and within driving distance of three neighboring states – all of which are currently abortion-free following the Dobbs decision.
In a press release just prior to Tuesday’s press conference, David Cox of Family Council Arkansas condemned the opening of Planned Parenthood’s new facility as an attempt to undermine the pro-life laws of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.
“Planned Parenthood’s decision to open this Pittsburg abortion facility shows its goal is to perform abortions on women throughout the Four State Area,” he said in the press release. “Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri have passed good, pro-life laws protecting women and unborn children from abortion. This facility will promote abortion to women from these states.”
According to reports of Operation Rescue and the Charlotte Lozier Institute, in 2022, there were a total of 5,089 babies killed in abortions obtained by women from Missouri and Oklahoma. That number was 41% of the abortions committed in Kansas that year.
In comments made by email to CatholicVote, Newman reiterated that Planned Parenthood is targeting college students and women in states with pro-life protections, adding, “Their presence is unwelcome, and that is exactly why Planned Parenthood officials tried desperately to sneak into the area.”
“The Family Council and Operation Rescue have worked hard to expose these tactics,” he continued:
And now Operation Rescue and other pro-life groups, including Students for Life, are joining hands to bring awareness to the local community, the state of Kansas, and surrounding states. We especially want parents of students to be aware of Planned Parenthood’s tactics to influence their children with wicked ideologies and to potentially destroy the very lives of their grandchildren.
At Tuesday’s press conference, William Anderson, Midwest Regional Coordinator for Students for Life of America (SFLA), emphasized Planned Parenthood’s strategy of targeting college-age women.
“Ninety percent of all Planned Parenthood facilities are located within five miles of a college campus, and this new Planned Parenthood abortion business is no different,” Anderson said. “Planned Parenthood is in it for the money, already taking nearly $700 million of taxpayer funds, and they have no issue taking it while targeting young and vulnerable women to abort their preborn children to keep the hamster wheel running.”
The mission of SFLA, Anderson said, “is to abolish abortion,” adding that the organization – which has nearly 1,500 Students for Life groups in schools across the country – attempts to “empower and equip young people, who are the most targeted by the abortion industry, to recruit their peers to join this pro-life generation, help those facing an unplanned pregnancy by bringing awareness to life-affirming resources, and mobilize for state and national initiatives.”
Following the press conference in Pittsburg last week, Operation Rescue President Troy Newman commented on the need for pro-life Americans to take part in the upcoming election for the sake of defending the unborn against the advance of the abortion industry by Planned Parenthood and its allies. “Pro-life Americans simply cannot sit this election out. We have to register to vote and we have to show up at the polls,” Newman said.
“Children in the womb don’t have the luxury of voting for the candidate that might save them from the violent act of abortion,” he added. “All they have is us — the people who see them. The people who can speak for them. Harris will obliterate the preborn. Trump will stem the tide of child killing, just as he did in his last term. It’s that simple. ”In February of this year, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sued Planned Parenthood, alleging that the organization was trafficking minors from Missouri to Kansas City to obtain abortions without parental consent. He vowed to oppose the abortion giant for what he denounced as “direct violation[s] of Missouri law” that were undermining state protections for children and the unborn.
