abortion

Following the Thursday ruling by a Jackson County judge, Planned Parenthood in Kansas City began providing medication abortions to patients on Monday for the first time since 2018. But affiliates are still fighting limitations as critics again seek to restrict access via a ballot issue in November.

A Jackson County judge permanently struck down a slew of abortion restrictions, including a statute requiring what's known as a "complication plan" for medication abortions.

Kansas voters will soon decide if they want to elect justices to the state’s highest court, instead of the current, merit-based nomination system. Some former justices worry direct elections could interfere with important decision-making.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway was the lead Republican attorney general behind the letter, claiming "the upsurge in home-setting chemical abortions has serious implications for the Safe Drinking Water Act." Environmental experts say there is no such evidence.

The November measure would essentially reinstate Missouri's abortion ban by repealing the reproductive rights amendment voters approved in 2024. It would also add a constitutional ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

An amendment banning abortion will go before Missouri voters in November, possibly alongside a referendum on the state's gerrymandered congressional map. But a proposal to expand sales taxes and eliminate the income tax will appear in the smaller-turnout August election.

In some respects, whether the Republican-controlled legislature succeeded in all of its goals isn’t known yet, because priorities like restricting abortion and ending the income tax must be decided by voters.

Proponents of the bill say the legislation is necessary to protect those who survive an attempted abortion, while opponents say it creates a hostile environment for medical workers.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 to let states decide how to manage abortion access. But Yvette Lindgren, a professor of law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, says state bans aren’t resulting in fewer abortions.

Other legislation that could be considered in the last week of the 2026 session includes a wide-reaching education bill and measures to limit vehicle inspections and raise the rural highway speed limit.

The most recent data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment show more than 70% of abortions in 2024 used the drug mifepristone. There’s a court battle over mailing the medication to patients.

The original bill would have allowed civil lawsuits against anyone involved in an unlawful abortion, including self-induced abortions