Sidewalk Advocates for Life get some help with helping

By Taylor Wegerer

Although Wichita has a longstanding and tragic reputation for attracting significant numbers of women from out of state who are seeking abortions, recent trends strongly suggest that has only gotten worse. Dark as this reality is, the work of Sidewalk Advocates for Life (SAFL) is a clear reminder of St. Paul’s statement in Romans 5:20 that “Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.” We are seeing that remains true as ever.

SAFL is a ministry in the Diocese of Wichita’s Respect Life and Social Justice Office. It is a compassionate and prayerful ministry that provides crisis intervention outside abortion clinics. All sidewalk advocates sign a pledge of integrity in which they agree to be peaceful, law-abiding, and prayerful. Planned Parenthood statistics claim that one in four women have an abortion at some point in life. SAFL provides life-giving resources to those with whom its advocates connect, and across the country they have saved at least 24,286 women and babies from the harms of abortion. 

SAFL Wichita provides outreach at two of Wichita’s three abortion facilities. Despite the lack of any local abortion reporting requirements, our firsthand experience points to a crisis in Wichita. The ratio of women coming to the city’s abortion facilities appears to be at least 15 women from out of state for every Kansan. We have provided aid to women and men who have traveled from as far as 12 hours away. 

It is common for advocates to see 25 women entering each abortion mill on a single day. Places such as Planned Parenthood may offer other services, but people do not travel from out of state for something easily accessible at home. This allows us to arrive at some very disturbing figures, even under very conservative estimates: Assuming 11 each from the two clinics at which we provide outreach, as well as three from the other, leaves us with a daily body count of 25 babies, as well as 50 mothers and fathers whose lives are forever impacted. And this happens every day in Wichita. 

Since these facilities now provide abortion poison by mail, the actual number is probably much higher. It is as if an entire kindergarten class goes missing each day in Wichita. Abortions in Kansas have gone up nearly 200% since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In 2021, 7,849 abortions were reported by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment; in 2025  22,720 abortions were reported. The National SAFL team is aware of this crisis and sent one of its own to provide advice and feedback. 

Yeomans Work

The national SAFL organization sent its Senior Regional Programs Manager Melissa Yeomans to Wichita June 11-13. Her pro-life advocacy began when she started volunteering at her local pregnancy resource center and prayed with the 40 Days For Life campaign. Praying on the sidewalk introduced her to some very informed and loving advocates who were with SAFL, which prompted her to take its training course. She has been a SAFL advocate for seven years now. For two years she has led her local sidewalk advocate group in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and she recently joined the national team as well. During her visit to Wichita, Yeomans provided a lot of hope and encouragement. 

Her first day in town involved a look at Wichita’s outreach and meeting a few local advocates. The fruits of Yeoman’s visit were already beginning to show on the second day as we drove by local abortion mills and she got a closeup view of Wichita’s outreach. Then I took her to the chancery and cathedral for filmed interviews with some local advocates that will result in videos to help inform others about sidewalk advocacy and encourage those who are already involved.

Next, Yeomans and I went to Planned Parenthood to offer free resources and a listening ear to the people going inside. During this time she met a couple of our very dedicated volunteers from Wichita’s St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish. We also saw the “medical waste” truck come and pick up six large containers full of aborted babies’ remains. 

Difficult as this was to see, Yeomans had a very fruitful conversation with the driver. They discussed if he had any moral conflicts about his job. Although he said “I am just the driver picking up and delivering the remains,” he acknowledged that the boxes contained destroyed human lives. The conversation seemed to help him reflect on the reality to which his job contributes 

Advocates also handed out abortion pill reversal information, informed patients that Plan B works as an abortifacient, provided healing resources for a man who did not want his girlfriend to have an abortion, and had many conversations with women and men who were struggling with their decisions. God was on the move through Yeomans and the local sidewalk advocates. 

That night, the Spiritual Life Center hosted a SAFL Wichita group meeting with more than 30 attendees. Yeomans shared a beautiful testimony that included an account of meeting and helping a pregnant mother in the midst of a desperate situation. This mother lacked the resources to provide for a child and was in an abusive relationship. Yeomans offered the woman a compassionate ear and sound advice, as well her contact information. 

Slowly they built a strong connection. Yeomans helped the mom escape her abusive relationship and move into a safe place. Yeomans connected her to a pregnancy resource center that provided sonograms and additional supplies for her and her baby. Ties between Yeomans and the mother grew so strong that they worked together to create a birth plan and she asked Yeomans to be in the room when she gave birth. 

Yeomans was present when baby Kingdom was born. This story was a source of inspiration for many local advocates, who have been understandably discouraged to see so many women experience pain and suffering after an abortion. 

The meeting concluded with a goal to make sure SAFL had adequate volunteers every Friday at Planned Parenthood, followed by a question and answer session. 

Yeoman’s final day in Wichita was spent on the sidewalk. I joined her and local volunteer Colleen Ostermann on the sidewalk all day. In addition, there was at least one other volunteer and as many as five others on the sidewalk at all times. This created an atmosphere unlike any Ostermann and I have ever known: The Holy Spirit was on fire working through the many advocates. 

Honestly, engaging people heading into an abortion facility with any sort of extended, fruitful conversation is often extremely tough.  However, at one point we noticed such engagement with three different people at the same time: One involved a Spanish speaking man who did not want to lose his child. Another dealt with educating a woman about abortion pill reversal. Another entailed a young couple yet to enter the facility. Rarely do we learn about the final outcome involving the clients we reach, but in this instance,  we know more about the father who did not want his child aborted. His story appears in the accompanying article by Ostermann.

There will be a SAFL training session at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton on July 25. It goes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with lunch and snacks provided. Please RSVP with me at 316-677-0327

Taylor Wegerer is the Coordinator of the Sidewalk Advocates for Life inside the Diocese of Wichita’s Office of Respect Life and Social Justice.