Wichita’s largest abortion clinic halts abortions after shakeup in leadership

Wichita’s largest abortion clinic — one of the biggest abortion providers in the region — has indefinitely halted abortions after its board of directors reportedly fired its leaders and installed two board members to run the clinic.

Trust Women Wichita’s temporary closure is a major blow to abortion access in Kansas and beyond. The clinic had been scheduling about 100 patients a week — many of them from states that have banned abortion — as one of a handful of clinics in Kansas that provides abortions up to the legal limit of 22 weeks.

The decision to halt abortions at Trust Women is likely to force many patients to seek abortions elsewhere — in Kansas City, Colorado or New Mexico — adding three to six hours of drive time along with other possible hurdles.

Trust Women Wichita’s board of directors says the decision was necessary because of leadership changes. They have declined to discuss the reasons for the changes, citing the need to protect the privacy of those involved. Past employees say the personnel changes included the firings of trusted leaders without explanation followed by several resignations.

Rewire News Group first reported on Thursday that Trust Women’s board of directors fired its co-executive directors Schaunta James-Boyd and Rebecca Tong in April and replaced them with interim CEO Shukeyla Harrison and board president Sapphire Garcia-Lies, who have been with the organization less than a year.

Harrison then removed directors within the organization, former employees told The Eagle. Others who had been with Trust Women for years quit in protest. Employees were asked to sign and agree to the terms of a new nondisclosure agreement that carried a $5,000 penalty for any violations.

Within the past month, Trust Women’s medical director, advocacy director, director of communications and the person who had been covering the duties of a vacant development director position left the organization. Trust Women declined to comment on the departures. Former Trust Women employees said the medical director and advocacy director were fired while the other two quit.

Rewire also reported that 10 of the clinic’s 16 physicians quit in protest.

Harrison, a doctoral student in leadership studies and instructor at Kansas State University, where she has a bachelor’s and master’s degree, did not respond to The Eagle’s request for comment. Garcia-Lies, founder of the Wichita Birth Justice Society, would not say how many physicians have left the clinic. She said the board of directors is going to add two abortion physicians to the board next week.

“Right now, we’ve proactively taken the step to pause abortion care because we want to move forward thoughtfully, with having all of the right pieces in place,” Garcia-Lies said. “And not only meeting the legal and clinical minimum standard of care, but meeting the optimal standard of care as we always have. And so the steps that we’ve taken are a continuation of that sentiment, that we are the best, and that we intend to continue to offer optimal care.

“And we’re doing this proactively; we’re not doing this in response to duress,” Garcia-Lies said. “And I think the story that hasn’t been told is that we recognize wholeheartedly that the physicians who perform this care are the experts in delivering this care. And I am committed to working with them through this transition.”

Founder: ‘Deeply concerned and heartbroken’

Trust Women opened in 2013 in the former clinic space of George Tiller, a Wichita abortion doctor who was assassinated in 2009. It also operates a reproductive health clinic in Oklahoma, which banned abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortion rights.

The clinic has been a strong advocate for abortion rights and participated in a campaign to defeat the nation’s first state-level referendum on abortion after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022.

Julie Burkhart, founder and former CEO of Trust Women who is now president of Wellspring Health Access in Wyoming, said in a news release that she is “deeply concerned and heartbroken” to hear of the clinic ceasing its abortion services.

“It is of the utmost importance that abortion services be available in south central Kansas due to its important position in today’s climate and a long legacy that it carries,” she said in a statement. “The clinic was a critical access point for women around the state, and for people who traveled from states with severely limited or restricted abortion laws to receive care.”

“People rely on Trust Women for lifesaving services, and I hope there’s a positive way forward to navigate this both unfortunate and alarming circumstance,” Burkhart added.

Trust Women’s clinic site has been the battleground for reproductive rights for decades, starting with the Summer of Mercy anti-abortion protests and daily protests by “sidewalk counselors” who attempt to dissuade women from receiving abortions as they enter the clinic’s driveway.

Former Trust Women employees said they feel betrayed by the board of directors. They found out about the leadership changes through two emails sent out on a Saturday and a Sunday in mid-April. There was no follow-up meeting introducing the new leaders or any group meeting explaining the decision, they said.

In interviews, they expressed alarm that the clinic has ceased offering abortion access. The employees asked to remain anonymous because the new leadership required them to sign a nondisclosure agreement that would cost them $5,000 if they speak out against the organization or its leadership.

“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 who left Trust Women in the past month said. “They shut down the region’s busiest abortion clinic for no reason, other than because they wanted to and because they could.”

“The work they do is so important,” another employee said. “Especially in this climate where women are having their rights taken away to decide what to do with their own body. To take that away in this climate is bad enough, but to have it taken in this way is so much worse.”

“It feels like a hostile takeover,” another former employee said. “It was certainly hostile towards the workers who have been doing the work and fighting the fight for years.”

Garcia-Lies declined to discuss specific personnel decisions. But she said she disagrees with criticisms from former employees who spoke to The Eagle and other news outlets.

“I have heard reflected back to me a different story from our employees,” Garcia-Lies said. “I would question your sources — because what I’m hearing is that they’re grateful that we are taking their views, opinions and knowledge into account while we go through this transition.”

Leadership and other changes

In a written statement, the Trust Women Board of Directors cited leadership changes and “changes in its medical protocols that will bolster its operations and ensure its patients receive unparalleled care and attention.”

“I want to clarify that,” Garcia-Lies told The Eagle. “These are protocols that were already in place. The reason we are saying that we’re making changes is we officially moved to codify those as necessary requirements that will always be part of the medical care going forward. These were things that were already in place, so these actions by the board were proactive.”

Garcia-Lies said Trust Women is committed to resuming abortions as soon as possible. But she said she does not have a firm timeline. She said the organization has opened a national search for a permanent medical director and a permanent CEO.

“Our intention is that this is short-lived, extremely short-lived,” Garcia-Lies said.

Trust Women Wichita performed more than 5,000 abortions last year as Republican-dominated state legislatures around the country moved to ban or restrict abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections, according to numbers provided by the organization to The Eagle prior to the leadership change.

Sources told The Eagle that the clinic has been closed to abortions all week. The organization’s new president declined Friday afternoon to confirm when the clinic stopped performing abortions, citing patient privacy concerns.

Garcia-Lies said Trust Women was able to connect patients who had appointments this week with other abortion providers.

“Since this was a proactive move — and not one that was done under duress — we have had time to reroute patients and, to my knowledge, there are not any patients currently who have not been able to be rerouted and receive the services that they need,” Garcia-Lies said.

Garcia-Lies said the key to reopening for abortion access is hiring a new medical director.

“Having a medical director in place is what we need before any additional abortion care is offered,” she said.

“The reason that we don’t have a timeline is because, in this moment, it’s prudent that we get the right person hired for an interim or permanent medical director. And it would be a mistake to rush ahead and not have the sound judgment that comes from being able to take a pause.”

Garcia-Lies said patients can expect a high level of care when Trust Women resumes providing abortions.

“What’s actually changing is not the quality of care offered but the clinical leadership,” Garcia-Lies said. “So we will be bringing in a new medical director soon — very soon, we hope — who has all of the requisite experience in abortion care. And we also are conducting a nationwide search for a permanent CEO.

“We have an interim in place right now, who we’re really grateful to,” she said. “She came from the board of directors and has extensive expertise in organizational management. And so right now we’re considering what we would like to see in both leadership positions and making sure that we get the best folks for the job in those positions, because Trust Women wants to remain regarded as one of the best in the nation.”