The legal battle over mailing the abortion drug mifepristone is affecting clinics in Kansas, where medication abortions are by far the most common method.
The most recent data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment shows more than 70% of abortions in 2024 were by mifepristone.
Mifepristone and misoprostol are two drugs used to end a pregnancy of up to ten weeks. Most medication abortions involve taking the drugs together because there are often fewer side effects when they’re combined. Patients access the medication through in-person or telehealth visits.
Last week, a federal appeals court restricted mifepristone access through mail without an appointment.
Then on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito allowed access and put that on hold for one week.
Many people come to Kansas for abortion care because the state allows abortions up to 22 weeks. While states like Oklahoma and Arkansas outlaw all or most abortions.
There are four Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains CEO Emily Wales said mifepristone is a part of everyday care. She said the recent ruling has caused “confusion and chaos,” with the biggest impact on out-of-state patients coming to Kansas.
“It’s a heartbreaking situation to have patients in the car driving to get to us, hoping that they can access the care they so badly need in Pittsburgh, and then to hear that it might not be available,” Wales said.
Mackenzie Ayers with the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life said the recent ruling
addresses safety concerns. She said there needs to be more medical oversight of the drug.
"We believe that women deserve to know the truth about the risks of these chemical abortion drugs and to receive real medical oversight, not be left on their own when complications arise,” Ayers said.
She said less oversight leads women to navigate serious complications like hemorrhaging or infections on their own.
Safety is a core piece of the debate over the drug. Abortion opponents cite data from a right-leaning advocacy group, The Ethics and Public Policy Center. While Planned Parenthood points to the long history of the drug first approved in 2000 and a track record that they say makes it as safe as penicillin, Tylenol or Viagra.
Advocates on both sides of the issue are waiting to see what happens when the one-week hold on the mailing ban ends on May 11.
Rachel Schnelle reports on Missouri and Kansas issues for KRPS.
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