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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Media conglomerate Clear Channel is lifting its earlier ban on radio ads from a Wichita abortion clinic promoting health care services for women. The company reversed course Tuesday as supporters of the South Wind Women's Center prepared to deliver a petition with 68,000 signatures Wednesday, asking the broadcaster to reconsider its earlier decision. Clear Channel says it recognizes certain advertising may stir passionate viewpoints but that it determined it should use its best judgment to accept and run ads that don't violate the law or FCC standards. The company says the nationwide petition did not play into its decision. South Wind is the first abortion clinic to open in Wichita since the 2009 slaying of Dr. George Tiller.
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The following is a story from earlier today (TUE), including the details of the South Wind Women's Center petition drive:
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Supporters of a new abortion clinic in Wichita are pushing back after media company Clear Channel rejected radio ads promoting its health care services for women. Representatives of the South Wind Women's Center plan to deliver a petition Wednesday containing more than 68,000 signatures urging Clear Channel to reconsider last month's decision to pull ads from three of the four stations it operates in the Wichita market. Clear Channel officials refused to immediately comment on the matter. South Wind's executive director, Julie Burkhart, is expected to speak at Wednesday's event. The clinic opened in April in the building once owned by slain abortion provider George Tiller. It offers reproductive health care services, including abortions and subsidized birth control for low-income patients.