abortion access

The call for an outright ban departs from the agenda of Republican leaders in the Legislature and efforts by Kansans for Life.

With Senate Bill 65, Kansas joins several states where abortion opponents want to give local governments the authority to restrict or ban abortion.

A landslide vote last year kept abortion legal in Kansas, but now the fight continues in the Statehouse — where abortion opponents have already introduced legislation that would further restrict access.

The state's near-total ban on abortion means mifepristone and misoprostol — two drugs that can induce abortion within 10 weeks of gestation — are still illegal.

A Wichita Planned Parenthood began connecting abortion patients with out-of-state doctors in a bid to increase appointment availability. It comes after a judge struck down a state law banning telemedicine abortions.

The court’s ruling does not overturn the 2021 law, which banned abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. It also does not impact the near-total bans on abortion that went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

A Kansas judge has blocked a law banning doctors from prescribing abortion-inducing pills over telemedicine. Abortion providers say that’ll help expand access in rural Kansas, but the legal fight isn’t over.

Abortions at Kansas clinics rose 36% after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — and the number of Kansans ordering abortion pills from overseas doubled.

“It was just a matter of time before the baby died, or maybe I’d have to go through the trauma of carrying to term knowing I wasn’t bringing a baby home,” said 27-year-old Lauren Hall. “I couldn’t do that.”

The national battle against abortion has reached small local governments. Towns in Nebraska and Texas have banned abortion within their borders, even if they don’t have a clinic. But in one community, that effort could interrupt abortion access for the entire region.