Photo shows the Wichita area hospital where one of Cheryl Chastine’s botched abortion patients was recently transported. Chastine holds no hospital privileges in Wichita.
By Cheryl Sullenger
Wichita, KS – Area hospitals in Wichita, Kansas, have denied hospital privileges to Illinois abortionist Cheryl Chastine, according to her application for a medical license in Oklahoma recently obtained by Operation Rescue.
Chastine serves as the medical director for South Wind Women’s Center in Wichita, which opened last year in the building that once housed George Tiller’s infamous late-term abortion clinic.
She applied for licensure in Oklahoma last year in order to work part-time as an abortionist in Norman, Oklahoma. The only abortion facility in Norman is the Abortion Surgery Center, which is owned and operated by abortionist Larry Burns.
On page 14 of her Oklahoma license application, Chastine noted that she was “denied medical staff privileges in Wichita, Kansas, due to hospital board opposition to the nature of my practice.” A hand-written notation indicated that at least one unnamed hospital “declined to process” her application for privileges.
However, Chastine never mentions that she is involved in abortions on her Oklahoma license application, listing only a specialty in “Family Practice.”
After the last abortion facility in Wichita closed in 2009, other abortionists, including late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart, tried opening abortion businesses in that community, but were thwarted by efforts led by Operation Rescue. In response to a petition campaign launched by Operation Rescue, Wesley Medical Center informed Operation Rescue that it would never allow abortionists to receive even transfer agreements with the hospital.
“We applaud hospitals in Wichita that have kept their pledge not to grant hospital privileges to abortionists. This shows that the community remains hostile to child-killing and that the fledgling abortion facility that recently opened here is not welcome in this community,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue.
The hospital privilege requirement is important because, not only does it ensure that women injured during abortions will receive continuity of care, but also because of a clinic licensing law passed in Kansas in 2011. While that law is tied up in court, the State has recently filed a Motion for Summary Judgement. If successful, local hospital privileges would be required for every abortionist in Kansas. This would likely force two out of the three remaining abortion facilities in Kansas to shut down, including South Wind Women’s Center.
Chastine, was involved in a botched abortion at South Wind Women’s Center on March 26, 2015, when a hemorrhaging abortion patient was transported to Galachia Hospital for emergency care that was not available at the abortion facility. Chastine has admitted she never did an abortion before going to work for South Wind Women’s Center last year.
Chastine has also admitted to suffering from a serious mental health disorder for which she is heavily medicated. “I lost years of my life to #depression. I don’t even remember that time well,” she said in a posting to Twitter.com on February 27, 2013. “I accept that I will always need to take antidepressant medication,” she continued. “It lets me be a productive member of society. That’s ok.”
Chastine’s own tweets reveal her more about her darker side. A recent column by Jill Stanek exposed her foul-mouthed Twitter rants that illustrate a shocking level of vulgarity.
Chastine’s non-abortion practice in Oak Park, Illinois, was heavily picketed by the Pro-Life Action League. Eventually, Chastine was fired from her position with that practice, which may have prompted Chastine to seek employment as an abortionist in Oklahoma.
Complaints filed against Chastine in Kansas by Operation Rescue staff remain under investigation by the Kansas Board of Healing Arts.
View Chastine’s Profile Page with supporting documents and links at AbortionDocs.org.