After a delay of a year, an abortion business has opened in Wyoming, a conservative and largely pro-life state.
The Wellspring Health Access facility was set to open in the Spring of 2022, but shortly before its scheduled opening, the facility was the target of an arson attack. Then in June 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned and Wyoming’s trigger law went into effect, protecting nearly all preborn children in the state. Subsequently, Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens ruled the trigger law unconstitutional and temporarily blocked it. Wellspring is currently involved in a lawsuit against the law.
Wellspring is owned by Julie Burkhart, who was mentored by the late George Tiller, a well-known late-term abortionist who was murdered in his church parking lot more than two decades ago. Besides Wellspring, Burkhart owns several other abortion businesses.
Chelsea’s Fund, a pro-abortion Wyoming non-profit working to keep abortion legal in the state, encouraged Burkhart to open a facility there. Until now, the state had only one other abortion business; it solely offered the abortion pill up to about 10 weeks. Wellspring is now set to become the only abortion business committing surgical abortions in Wyoming. Burkhart targeted the area of Casper for her business, due to its proximity to South Dakota and Nebraska, states that more stringently protect the preborn.
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Jeanette Ward, a Republican state representative, said, “I was surprised that this opened in Casper, because most people here, the vast majority, are pro-life.” Despite this, many lawmakers in the state have not taken a strong stance against abortion.
The Mayor of Casper, Bruce Knell, has made his personal pro-life stance clear, yet he has not called for any city resolutions to put a stop to abortion. He said of the Wellspring abortion facility, “They are a legal, law-abiding business, so they have a right to be here.”
As soon as the board members and staff of the True Care Women’s Resource Center heard about the plans to open Wellspring, they began plans to open a pro-life pregnancy center nearby. They were successful and are training many volunteers to be sidewalk advocates, informing women of their life-affirming options.
Pro-life advocates continue to fight to protect the preborn in Wyoming and hope that the work of Burkhart and the Wellspring abortion facility will not continue for long.
