New abortion laws in Oklahoma, Texas could cause later abortions in Kansas

New abortion restrictions south of Kansas have ushered in an unintended consequence: later-term abortions in Wichita, abortion-rights advocates say.

An Oklahoma abortion ban signed into law Tuesday is likely to force more women to travel north to Wichita or to a surrounding state for an abortion, further stressing clinics that are already at capacity following recent abortion restrictions in Texas.

The influx of people traveling north for abortions has created a waiting list in Wichita and delays for women seeking the procedure, said Zach Gingrich-Gaylord, spokesperson for Trust Women, which has abortion clinics in Oklahoma City and Wichita.

“Ironically, these abortion bans are creating more situations where people are delayed in accessing this care, so we’re seeing higher gestational ages in our clinics,” Gingrich-Gaylord said. “Right now, we are booking at three to four weeks out, and so if you call us at 16 weeks, it’s going to be pretty difficult to get you in in time before you run up against those legal limits where we’re not allowed to do abortions here.”

The delays could cause women to carry a pregnancy beyond 22 weeks, which is cutoff in Kansas for an abortion, he said.

“You’d have to go to Colorado or another state that goes beyond 21 weeks, 6 days,” Gingrich-Gaylord said. Colorado voters rejected a ballot initiative in 2020 that would have banned abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy.

In Kansas, the state Supreme Court has ruled the state Constitution includes a right to “personal autonomy” that includes the right to an abortion. But voters will consider a constitutional amendment in August that would overturn that decision, likely setting up a scenario where abortions would be further restricted or banned by Kansas’ largely anti-abortion legislature.

Kansans for Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion organization, would not answer questions about the prospect of later abortions in Wichita.

Danielle Underwood, a spokesperson for the organization, provided a written statement accusing Kansas abortion providers of “actively marketing to out-of-state residents” and calling Kansas “a destination state for abortion.” She encouraged voters to approve the constitutional amendment during the August primary.

“Without passage of Value Them Both Amendment August 2nd, women will continue [to] be vulnerable to the extreme practices of abortion industry,” she wrote.

The Oklahoma bill, signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday, makes it a felony to perform an abortion, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It would not take effect until August and is all but certain to face court challenges.

It does not authorize criminal charges against a woman for receiving an abortion.

It follows a new Texas abortion law, the most restrictive of its kind to take effect in the U.S. in several decades. Texas has banned abortions after a heartbeat is detected, effectively outlawing abortions after six weeks, before many women know they’re pregnant.

That law also creates a sort of bounty system for private citizens, who are entitled to collect $10,000 if they bring a successful lawsuit against a provider or anyone who is suspected of “aiding and abetting” abortions after six weeks. It makes no exceptions for rape, sexual abuse or incest.

States across the nation have moved swiftly to pass more restrictive abortion laws after the U.S. Supreme Court signaled it may uphold Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks.

Republican governors in Florida and Arizona have also signed bills this spring outlawing abortions after 15 weeks, positioning their states to be aligned with Mississippi if the Supreme Court decides the ban is constitutional.

“If Oklahoma health centers are forced to stop providing abortion, the ripple effect will be felt throughout the region,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, in a written statement provided by Trust Women.

“Oklahoma health centers are currently seeing dozens of patients each day who have left Texas to seek abortions,” said McGill Johnson. “Some providers have reported a nearly 2,500% increase in Texas patients in the last four months of 2021, compared to the same period of 2020. And in turn, Oklahomans have started leaving for care in Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas, or even states further afield.”

The Oklahoma bill, which takes effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns next month, makes an exception only for an abortion performed to save the life of the mother.

“We want to outlaw abortion in the state of Oklahoma,” Stitt said during a signing ceremony for the bill. “I promised Oklahomans that I would sign every pro-life bill that hits my desk, and that’s what we’re doing here today.”

Sen. Nathan Dahm, a Broken Arrow Republican who wrote the bill, called it the “strongest pro-life legislation in the country right now, which effectively eliminates abortion in Oklahoma.”

Abortion rights advocates say the bill is unconstitutional, and similar laws approved recently in Arkansas and Alabama have been blocked by federal courts. Other bills under consideration in Oklahoma mirroring the Texas law could take hold by the end of the month.

Abortions in Texas have plummeted by about 50% since the law took effect, while the number of Texans going to clinics out of state and requesting abortion pills online has gone up.