BY: ANNA KAMINSKI
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — More than 70% of abortions performed in 2024 in Kansas were for out-of-state residents, according to monthly estimates of clinician-provided abortions in states without total bans.
Overall, Kansas was among the top five states in the country with the most substantial increases in abortions performed between 2023 and 2024, with about an 18% increase.
That increase was driven by non-Kansans seeking care, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a health policy research and advocacy organization, that released a report of monthly abortion estimates on April 15.
The report found that clinicians provided more than 1 million abortions in the United States in 2024, an increase of less than 1% from 2023.
Across the country, fewer people generally traveled across state lines seeking abortions in 2024 than in 2023. However, Kansas was an outlier.
Kansas clinicians provided more than 16,000 abortions to out-of state residents in 2024, a 3,300-case increase from 2023. Those abortions accounted for 71% of all abortion performed in the state.
“The latest abortion travel data are a clear reminder that the impact of a state’s abortion policies extends far beyond its borders,” said Kimya Forouzan, the institute’s principal state policy advisor.
The report specifically called out Kansas and Virginia as states with substantial abortion growth driven by out-of-state residents.
“This increase in travel from other states was the main driver of increased abortion counts overall in both states, although other factors like expanded clinic capacity also may have increased access for state residents,” the report said.
Emily Wales, the CEO and president of Planned Parenthood of the Great Plains, said the increase was expected.
Planned Parenthood’s clinics saw people seeking miscarriage management, victims of sexual assault and pregnancies with fetal anomalies. All were in need of care in Kansas because restrictions in their own states were too narrow.
“Too often those patients are being turned away,” Wales said.
Kansas has been a “critical point of access,” she said. Planned Parenthood opened a fourth clinic in August in Pittsburg, creating further regional support.
People living in states with total bans have few states to choose from, Wales said, so proximity to a major highway or airport and travel affordability become major factors in the decision to seek out-of-state care.
An inflow of more than 5,800 Texans, almost 3,000 Oklahomans, 2,860 Missourians, about 520 Arkansans and 150 Louisianans visited Kansas for an abortion in 2024. States with fewer than 100 people seeking care in Kansas were not identified in the report. Most of those who traveled — more than 14,500 people — received care at a Planned Parenthood clinic, Wales said.
While federal and state restrictions continue to settle, Wales believes people are still frustrated and paying attention to government’s involvement in private health care decisions.
“But also,” Wales said, “I do think people have been somewhat removed from how emotional it can be to get in your car and drive 12 hours to access care.”
The uptick in abortion access comes on the heels of the Kansas Legislature’s 2025 session, during which Republicans made several, mostly unsuccessful, attempts at clamping down on reproductive health care access.
“The data reflects that Kansans were more empathetic and insightful when they voted on this issue than the Legislature seems to be,” Wales said, referring to the 2022 ballot question attempting to limit abortion access, which Kansas voters rejected.