Kansas has become a prime destination for those traveling to obtain an abortion in the Midwest one year after voters turned down a proposed constitutional amendment that would have paved the way for legislative restrictions on the controversial procedure.
Nearly 69%, or nearly 8,500, of the over 12,000 abortions performed in Kansas in 2022 were conducted on out-of-state residents because surrounding states Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas have all banned abortion in most cases, making the total number of abortions in Kansas over 150% higher than in 2021.
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Kansas was one of the first states to propose a constitutional mechanism to protect abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, effectively giving control over abortion back to the states.
On Aug. 2, 2022, Kansas residents voted down a proposed “value them both” constitutional amendment that would have allowed the legislature not only to place gestational limits on abortion but also safety policies.
“One year ago, Kansas became the first state in the nation to vote on reproductive rights following the fall of Roe v. Wade and the first to boldly protect the constitutional right to abortion,” wrote Rachel Sweet, a lead organizer of the opposition movement to the amendment, in an opinion piece published in the Kansas Reflector. “It will go down in history as the first vote, the first victory, and a pivotal moment for women in our ongoing battle for equality and autonomy over our bodies.”
? VICTORY ? Kansans have voted to protect abortion rights! Just weeks after the overruling of Roe, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have eliminated any right to abortion in the state’s constitution and opened the door to extreme abortion bans. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/J8vKmoDzMU
— Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes (@PPGPVotes) August 3, 2022
Since the Kansas Supreme Court identified a right to abortion in the state constitution in 2019, abortion has been legal up until 22 weeks gestation, a common measure of fetal viability outside the womb.
Abortion rights advocates have criticized the laws in neighboring states as restrictive to the point that they endanger the lives of pregnant women, arguing that treatment for medical emergencies such as miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies cannot be performed in states that have total abortion bans.
Several state legislators have taken steps to define that medical procedures to save a mother’s life in a variety of situations are not the same as an elective abortion. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists provides guidance that the removal of a deceased child in the womb or the treatment of an ectopic pregnancy are not equivalent to an elective abortion and should not be interpreted as such by medical professionals.
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Of the out-of-state residents who traveled to Kansas for an abortion, 2,978 came from Texas, while 2,883 and 2,026 came from Missouri and Oklahoma, respectively. Residents from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Nebraska also traveled to Kansas for abortions, likely due to restrictions in their home states.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America estimates that the near-total abortion bans in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas have prevented a total of 64,382 abortions.
