Northeastern Indiana, pay attention
Second front in abortion war?
by Kevin Leininger
kleininger@news-sentinel.com
The old brick building at 829 Webster St. in downtown Fort Wayne has been ground zero in the local abortion battle since the Women’s Health Organization opened a clinic there nearly 28 years ago.
Now, however, a second front has opened in the city’s abortion war. Perhaps sparked by new state regulations, it’s mostly a guerilla war for now – or, to borrow a phrase from President Bush, perhaps even a pre-emptive war. But the fight could escalate soon, depending on one man’s “choice.”
And that man is George Klopfer, the Crete, Ill., osteopath who performs abortions in South Bend and on Webster Street at Fort Wayne’s only abortion clinic.
According to Allen County records, Klopfer paid $319,200 for the former Custard Insurance office at 2210 Inwood Drive on March 31, 2005, and is advertising “completely safe and confidential abortions” from that location in phone books distributed this month. But the building remains vacant, and no one answers the phone at the number listed. What’s more, Klopfer hasn’t applied for any building or zoning permits for a clinic.
Pro-life groups, however, already have moved their forces onto Klopfer’s new turf. On Jan. 9, the Women’s Care Center – a pro-life organization that opened an office next to the Webster Street clinic in 2004 – quietly opened a branch at 2112 Inwood, a mostly commercial area near Coliseum and State boulevards. When will Klopfer’s new clinic open? Will it open at all? And if it does, will the Webster Street clinic close?
I can’t give you the answers, because people at the Webster Street clinic wouldn’t talk, and Klopfer didn’t return my phone calls.
But I – and local pro-life leaders – suspect he bought the Inwood Drive property at least in part as a hedge against new state abortion regulations Gov. Mitch Daniels signed this week. The rules that establish licensing procedures also require clinics to meet certain structural requirements that would force the Webster Street building to close if not for one thing:
Clinics operating before July 1 of this year are exempt from the bill’s physical guidelines, which dictate such things as the number of exits, size and function of rooms and the width of hallways.
Earlier versions of the regulations did not include the “grandfathering” provision – which would have forced the Webster Street clinic to close or undergo extensive and costly renovations, Klopfer told The Indianapolis Star in February.
And if Webster Street had been forced to close, Klopfer would have needed an alternative site. As of now, he doesn’t – which may be why the Inwood Drive office remains empty.
“But even the clinics grandfathered in will have to comply eventually if they want to renovate,” said Scott Tittle, Daniels’ policy director on health issues.
So the fate of Klopfer’s Inwood Drive site remains uncertain. But this much is clear: Anne Koehl, coordinator of the Women’s Care Center, said the group is going to stay on Inwood Drive and Webster Street no matter what Klopfer does. The new location, she said, drew 68 new clients in its first three months and has had more than 3,000 visitors – people who may not have otherwise heard its pro-life message.
Although Klopfer told The Star he believes the new regulations unfairly target abortion clinics, Tittle disagreed, saying abortion clinics have, unlike other medical facilities, been largely unregulated until now. “The intent is to protect the health and safety of women, and to make sure the clinics comply with other laws, such as those requiring informed consent,” he said.
Cathie Humbarger, executive director of the Allen County Right to Life Committee, said, “We’ve been waiting week to week, fully expecting (Klopfer) to open.”
If history is any guide, Humbarger, Koehl and their allies will be there – whenever and wherever – it happens. Maybe even before it happens. The stakes in this war are too great to do any less.
Source
by Kevin Leininger
kleininger@news-sentinel.com
The old brick building at 829 Webster St. in downtown Fort Wayne has been ground zero in the local abortion battle since the Women’s Health Organization opened a clinic there nearly 28 years ago.
Now, however, a second front has opened in the city’s abortion war. Perhaps sparked by new state regulations, it’s mostly a guerilla war for now – or, to borrow a phrase from President Bush, perhaps even a pre-emptive war. But the fight could escalate soon, depending on one man’s “choice.”
And that man is George Klopfer, the Crete, Ill., osteopath who performs abortions in South Bend and on Webster Street at Fort Wayne’s only abortion clinic.
According to Allen County records, Klopfer paid $319,200 for the former Custard Insurance office at 2210 Inwood Drive on March 31, 2005, and is advertising “completely safe and confidential abortions” from that location in phone books distributed this month. But the building remains vacant, and no one answers the phone at the number listed. What’s more, Klopfer hasn’t applied for any building or zoning permits for a clinic.
Pro-life groups, however, already have moved their forces onto Klopfer’s new turf. On Jan. 9, the Women’s Care Center – a pro-life organization that opened an office next to the Webster Street clinic in 2004 – quietly opened a branch at 2112 Inwood, a mostly commercial area near Coliseum and State boulevards. When will Klopfer’s new clinic open? Will it open at all? And if it does, will the Webster Street clinic close?
I can’t give you the answers, because people at the Webster Street clinic wouldn’t talk, and Klopfer didn’t return my phone calls.
But I – and local pro-life leaders – suspect he bought the Inwood Drive property at least in part as a hedge against new state abortion regulations Gov. Mitch Daniels signed this week. The rules that establish licensing procedures also require clinics to meet certain structural requirements that would force the Webster Street building to close if not for one thing:
Clinics operating before July 1 of this year are exempt from the bill’s physical guidelines, which dictate such things as the number of exits, size and function of rooms and the width of hallways.
Earlier versions of the regulations did not include the “grandfathering” provision – which would have forced the Webster Street clinic to close or undergo extensive and costly renovations, Klopfer told The Indianapolis Star in February.
And if Webster Street had been forced to close, Klopfer would have needed an alternative site. As of now, he doesn’t – which may be why the Inwood Drive office remains empty.
“But even the clinics grandfathered in will have to comply eventually if they want to renovate,” said Scott Tittle, Daniels’ policy director on health issues.
So the fate of Klopfer’s Inwood Drive site remains uncertain. But this much is clear: Anne Koehl, coordinator of the Women’s Care Center, said the group is going to stay on Inwood Drive and Webster Street no matter what Klopfer does. The new location, she said, drew 68 new clients in its first three months and has had more than 3,000 visitors – people who may not have otherwise heard its pro-life message.
Although Klopfer told The Star he believes the new regulations unfairly target abortion clinics, Tittle disagreed, saying abortion clinics have, unlike other medical facilities, been largely unregulated until now. “The intent is to protect the health and safety of women, and to make sure the clinics comply with other laws, such as those requiring informed consent,” he said.
Cathie Humbarger, executive director of the Allen County Right to Life Committee, said, “We’ve been waiting week to week, fully expecting (Klopfer) to open.”
If history is any guide, Humbarger, Koehl and their allies will be there – whenever and wherever – it happens. Maybe even before it happens. The stakes in this war are too great to do any less.
Source