KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Melissa Ohden was born premature. She always knew that. She was adopted and she always knew that too.

She was 14 years old when she learned her birth was the result of a failed saline infusion abortion back in 1977. She weighed less than three pounds.

“There is nothing that prepares you for a moment like that. There’s so many questions of, how does it happen? Why did it happen? Does that mean I’m so unlovable, I’m so unworthy,” said Melissa Ohden.

Ohden is the author of the book “You Carried Me” which outlines her journey of self-discovery and healing.

She eventually tracked down medical records documenting the failed procedure which led her to connect with her birth mother who also lives in the Kansas City area.

“She lives in Missouri. My birth mom, Ruth, lives in Odessa. I have a half-sister, Jennifer, and her kids that live in Blue Springs,” said Melissa.

Melissa says her birth mother never knew she was born alive and suspects her birth father didn’t know either. She wrote him a letter, but he died shortly after she sent it.

“My birth father passed away not long after I sent him a letter back in 2007, and I don’t know if he knew that I had survived that abortion,” said Melissa.

Abortion Survivors

Melissa now runs the Abortion Survivors Network. She says many people don’t have documentation backing up their birth stories. It’s mostly family secrets that are handed down. Survivors often struggle when learning the truth.

Not every state keeps track of efficacy- meaning did the procedure work?

Missouri included that information in its last annual abortion report in 2022. The information is in the “abortion complication section.”

It states that 12 abortions “failed, pregnancy undisturbed.”

Planned Parenthood’s own website reveals the effectiveness of medication abortions by how many weeks a woman is into her pregnancy and the combination of medications prescribed. The effectiveness is anywhere from 87% to 99% effective.

Saline-infused abortions are now quite rare due to side effects and the procedure requires hospitalization. More effective procedures are now available.

Upcoming Amendment 3 vote

Melissa has strong feelings about the upcoming Amendment 3 vote. She will vote “no.”

Click here to read the exact language.

“I want people to read through this language and be educated about it, to know what the impact of a yes or a no vote on it would be,” said Melissa.

She questions what limits will be in place if Missouri chooses abortion services. She also points next door to Kansas which now provides abortion services for women from numerous states. She does not want Missouri to be a major abortion provider.

She also points to her birth mother, Ruth and what she went through.

“There was a pain in her eyes that I will never, ever forget. And if there’s one thing I could change about my whole story, it would be her pain. I wish I could take that away from her,” said Melissa.

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.

MCPHERSON, Kan. (KWCH) – Increased fire danger due to high winds and dry ground prompted the Kansas Forest Service to suggest that farmers in the state temporarily halt harvesting.

The Bishop family, farmers in Decatur County, know the threat from such conditions all too well. A rapidly spreading fire knocked out a couple of acres worth of pastureland.

“My daughters are driving age. They were out working on their learner’s permit hours, so they came back and parked in the tall grass like I’ve told them several times not to do because it’d cause a fire. And sure enough it did,” Canaan Bishop recalled of the fire that only took about 30 seconds to knock out two acres.

It’s a situation that he said could’ve been far worse, although it did destroy a vehicle.

“Any other direction, we would’ve lost horses, a camper, horse trailers, everything like that,” he said. “Nobody was hurt. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

The McPherson Fire Department echoed the importance of fire warnings and what to be aware of.

“Try not to do burns, make sure to check on controlled burns that you may have done earlier in the week. Make sure no fire pits are going, no burning trash,” McPherson Fire Department Division Chief Seth Graham said. “Cigarettes is a big thing, too. Don’t flick them out on the interstate or anywhere that could possibly start a fire.”

Graham added that running combines can also be more of a risk.

Bishop said the short-term sacrifice of spending a couple of days out of the fields is worth it in the long run compared with the risk of starting a potentially devastating fire. He said the dry ground, paired with the wind, is “a recipe for disaster.”

Copyright 2024 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Multiple organizations opposing and supporting medical marijuana usage in Kansas stood in front of a special committee in Topeka on Wednesday.

Kansas is one of a handful of states that have not legalized medical marijuana. The legislature has stalled it from being made onto the floor multiple times. During the 2024 legislative session, senate republicans blocked the effort just before adjourning for the year.

At Tuesday’s special meeting, state agencies, law enforcement organizations, medical professionals, businesses, and advocacy groups stood in front of the committee and shared their connection to medical marijuana.

Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, Kansas Peace Officers Association, and Kansas Sheriffs Association all oppose medical marijuana. They all told the committee it would cost the state more than what it could earn.

Bel Aire Police Chief Darrel Atteberry with the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police said passing medical marijuana would end up with the legalization of recreational marijuana. Atteberry said it all started when the state legalized CBD, “The next year, it was, ‘No, we’re going to change that; we need THC in our CBD.’ And the incrementalism began.”

Meanwhile, Inga Seldres, the executive director of the Cannabis Justice Coalition- Kansas, said the state needs to do more than legalize marijuana. “Decriminalize it statewide, meaning no arrests, prison time, or criminal record for the possession of cannabis for personal consumption,” Seldres told the special committee on medical marijuana. “Additionally, we need to expunge the records of any non-violent cannabis offenses so that Kansans do not have a criminal record holding them back from employment and educational opportunities.”

Earlier this year, the DEA announced that it plans to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug; ultimately, weed could be used for medical use nationwide.

Copyright 2024 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com