UPDATE, May 23: This story has been updated with a press release from Trust Women.
Abortion services have been halted all week at the Trust Women’s clinic in Wichita, Kansas, after doctors began delaying deliveries due to an unexpected leadership change and the appointment of a new medical director they believe is unqualified. At least nine doctors have now resigned from the clinic.
“The clinic has been running without medical supervision for the past month,” a source said.
Rewire News Group confirmed the details of the situation with multiple sources inside the clinic, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of being blacklisted and therefore unable to find work at other clinics.
Trust Women is a critical regional hub for abortion access. It is one of six abortion clinics in Kansas and one of only four that provide procedural abortion care. In Kansas, abortion is legal up to the 22nd week of pregnancy, making its clinics important access points for people from nearby states where abortion is outlawed, including Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and others. Telemedicine abortion is also legal in Kansas.
There is no indication of when or if Trust Women will reopen for abortion care.
said a spokesperson for Trust Women Local shipping in 2023 which the clinic usually sees between 650 and 750 patients per month.
The trouble reportedly began in mid-April, when Trust Women’s board unexpectedly fired the organization’s co-executive directors, Rebecca Tong and Schaunta James-Boyd, and installed board secretary Shukeyla Harrison as interim CEO. A source said the only justification they heard for this decision was “compliance issues”. Another source said they never received any official communication about the leadership changes.
Sources said Harrison then fired the clinic’s medical director, Dr. Christina Bourne. According to multiple sources at the clinic, no reason was given for Bourne’s dismissal. They added that in recent weeks, several staff members have been asked to sign new non-disclosure agreements.
On Monday, the new medical director of the clinic was announced: Dr. Ekwensi Griffith, the founder of New Health Kansas, a wellness clinic that offers erectile dysfunction treatment, “medical weight loss” and other medical spa services such as Botox injections, CoolSculpting and facial fillers. According to the clinic’s website, Griffith’s training is in emergency medicine, but he has no apparent prior experience in abortion or other reproductive health care.
Jobs for the position of medical director remain active Glass door and Actually from publication. “Experience in women’s health care and/or abortion preferred,” the listing states. It also notes that the medical director should “ensure compliance with regulatory standards and guidelines.” Kansas has several burdensome regulations that abortion providers must follow, including licensing and reporting requirements which do not apply to other types of health facilities.
There is no indication of when or if Trust Women will reopen for abortion care.
“Our last contact with the Trust was in the fall of 2023,” the Missouri Abortion Fund said in a statement to Rewire News Group.
Trust Women was founded in honor of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider who was murdered in 2009. (The anniversary of his death is coming up next week). After a major fundraising campaign, Trust Women reopened in Tiller’s former clinic space in 2013. The organization also operates a clinic in Oklahoma, which remains open but no longer provides abortion care due to the state’s total ban .
Founder Julie Burkhart, who worked for Tiller, left Trust Women in 2021 and is now the president of Wellspring Health Access, which opened an abortion clinic in Casper, Wyoming, and co-owns the Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City, Illinois. Tong and James-Boyd took over the leadership of Trust Women after Burkhart’s departure.
Multiple sources said that, in their experience, Tong, James-Boyd and Bourne were all excellent at their jobs. All said they were shocked by the shooting.
Rewire News Group has reached out to nearby abortion providers and abortion funds for comment and will update this story with any new information. RNG also contacted Trust Women prior to publication and received the following statement shortly after publication.
