Kansas reports fewest abortions in 30 years
Fewer abortions were performed in Kansas last year than in any of the previous 30 years, a preliminary report from the state says.
Of the 6,782 abortions included in the report, 11 percent were performed on teenagers — including three on girls younger than 14.
Most abortions in the state last year were performed on women who were already mothers.
The preliminary report released on Tuesday by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment includes data gathered through a state law requiring physicians and hospitals to report abortions they perform to KDHE.
The data shows 3,372 Kansas women and 3,377 women from other states — mostly Missouri — had abortions in Kansas in 2017. An additional 33 Kansas women went to other states for the procedure, 10 for a state-defined late-term abortion.
The report notes that the number of Kansas women who had abortions in other states could change as other states submit information.
Of the Kansas women who had abortions, the majority lived in the most populous counties in the state: 811 in Johnson, 763 in Sedgwick, 352 in Wyandotte, 210 in Shawnee and 208 in Douglas.
The 6,782 reported abortions in 2017 is the fewest in the state since 1987, when there were 6,409. The number was as high as 12,445 in 1999 before dropping to 6,810 in 2016.
About 31 percent of the women, or 2,069, were between 20 and 24 years old — more than any other age group in the report. An additional 4 percent, or 239, were women 40 years old or older. There were 720, or 11 percent, who were teenagers; 192 were younger than 18.
For 68 percent of the women and girls, it was their first abortion.
About 58 percent of the women were mothers with at least one living child before terminating their pregnancies. Sixteen percent of the women were married.
Most of the pregnancies, at 68 percent, were less than nine weeks gestation. Ten of the abortions, or 0.1 percent, were at or after 22 weeks and performed outside of Kansas. State law defines an abortion at or after 22 weeks as late-term.
The most common method of abortion in Kansas was the medication Mifepristone, which was used in 58 percent of procedures. Suction curettage was used in another 33 percent.
Dilation and evacuation was used in 9 percent, or 592. The procedure is used in about 95 percent of second-trimester abortions and has been called dismemberment abortion by abortion opponents.
Two physicians have challenged a 2015 Kansas law banning the procedure. The law hasn't been enforced and the case is pending in the the Kansas Supreme Court.
This story was originally published April 3, 2018 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Kansas reports fewest abortions in 30 years."