In their attempts to derail the confirmation of Iolas David Toland as Secretary of Commerce, his opponents have stooped to a new low.
On Tuesday, Kansans for Life issued a statement insinuating that Thrive Allen County supports abortion.
How so? Thrive has received two grants from the Tiller Fund to help mothers and their babies by combatting smoking during pregnancy and to provide Pap smears, HPV vaccinations and birth control through the SEK Multi-County Health Department.
Chardel Hastings, director of the local health department, said the funds have helped prevent cervical cancer in lower-income women through the free HPV vaccinations and Pap smears.
When a womans Pap smear appears abnormal, she is referred to a primary care physician.
Hastings also said the center does not provide abortion counseling.
The Tiller Fund was established after the death of Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita physician who also provided late-term abortions.
As the former CEO of Thrive, Toland, according to Kansans for Life, aligned politically with Dr. Tillers belief that abortion services should be protected.
So does Thrive support abortion?
Well, only if you view contraception as such. And only a stretch of the imagination can take you down that path in that it prevents the implantation of sperm in a womans uterus.
But that would mean the reported 98 percent of Catholic women who have used contraceptives would be guilty of getting an abortion, and that is not a mantle they would feel comfortable bearing.
But Kansans for Life doesnt go for details.
Instead, it wants us to believe that the big picture means that any dollars received from the Tiller Fund by default includes support for abortion.
BECAUSE health and wellness are a big component of Thrives mission, its securing funding to screen for cancer, prevent smoking and allow family planning, makes sense.
To extrapolate that into support for abortion is dirty politics. And, unfortunately, thats what Kansas is awash in these days.
