Abortions in Kansas Rise; Fewer Women Come From Some States

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas saw a 4.1% increase in the number of abortions performed in the state in 2021 compared with 2020, with more Missouri residents but fewer Oklahoma and Texas residents coming into the state to terminate their pregnancies.

A preliminary report Tuesday from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment showed that 7,849 abortions were performed in the state last year. That’s 303 more than the 7,546 performed in Kansas in 2020.

The state saw an increase of more than 9% in the number of abortions performed in 2020 over 2019, due to an influx of patients from Oklahoma and Texas, where Republican governors shut down providers early in the coronavirus pandemic, while Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, kept them, open in her state.

But the number of abortions performed in Kansas for women from Oklahoma and Texas dropped to a total of 370 in 2021 from 566 in 2020, a drop of nearly 35%.

Meanwhile, the number of abortions for women from Missouri was 3,458 last year, up 8% or 257 from 2020.

And 8% more Kansas residents had abortions in the state in 2021 than in 2020. The increase was 292, making the total 3,937.