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Kansas abortion clinic leader was ready for Missouri abortion ban, fears it won't be short-lived
Kathryn Boyd, the new CEO and president of the Wichita-based abortion clinic Trust Women, appeared on the Kansas Reflector podcast to discuss how Missouri's abortion ban might affect Kansans. (Submitted)
TOPEKA — In May, as Kathryn Boyd began her new role as president and CEO of the Trust Women clinic in Wichita, one of the first conversations she had with the clinic's leaders was how to deal with a new ban in Missouri and what it might mean for Kansas.
A late-May decision from a Missouri judge triggered an all-out ban on abortion in the state, but that wasn't much of a surprise to Kansas abortion providers who were preparing for the worst.
The majority of abortion patients in Kansas already come from out of state, and now, Trust Women is making its physicians more available and expanding its hours to brace for an influx.
'This is a case of lawmakers who, despite what Missourians voted for, have decided that they're going to just throw that out the window and do what they want anyway,' Boyd said on the Kansas Reflector podcast. 'So I think my first reaction was like, OK, here we go again.' 'Before the ban, Missourians were able to receive abortion care in major cities, reversing years of restrictions implemented by state lawmakers. Those rulings came after voter approval of a constitutional amendment in November enshrining reproductive freedom in the state constitution.
All of that was undone in a two-page ruling last month from Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Russell, who ordered Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang to vacate the December and February decisions and reevaluate the case, restoring a ban on abortions and restricting facility licensing.
Health centers in Missouri provided care to people who wouldn't have to travel as far as they do now, Boyd said. Following the anger, fear and worry in the wake of the decision in Missouri, Boyd said the primary focus of Trust Women is to expand access. The clinic's message, she said, is, 'We're still here.'
'We're still providing care. We need to expand, and we need support. You know, that's really what it comes down to. And I think that that is a similar story of many, many providers throughout the country, regardless of what state they're in,' Boyd said.
However, her fear is that the ban won't be short-lived.
Boyd, who has worked in the field of abortion and reproductive care for years, entered the top job at Trust Women about a year after intense turmoil within the clinic. Reports of mass resignations and multiple leadership shakeups led the clinic to temporarily close its doors. Boyd, though she wasn't working at the clinic at the time, describes it as 'very, very hard' for the organization.
'Coming in after a culture shock like that can be really challenging for any leader,' Boyd said. 'Making sure that I come in with that in the back of my mind, I don't want that trauma to, like, dictate what we do going forward, but it definitely is like a side dish.'
Her goal is to create a culture of transparency and collaboration, and that requires building back trust and listening, she said.
