Abortion pill

Missouri saw a 14% increase in the number of reported abortions among its residents last year compared to 2020, according to a new report, fueled largely by the increase in telehealth-assisted abortions from providers in states where the procedure is protected.

Andrew Bailey's lawsuit seeking to block access to the abortion pill argues that it harms Missouri by “depressing expected birth rates for teenaged mothers." His argument stands in contrast to Missouri's own public health policies.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is leading a lawsuit to restrict access to mifepristone, a common abortion medication. He claims that the lost "potential population" from teen parents will cost the state revenue and political representation.

The court said that the challengers, a group called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, had no right to be in court at all. It's a loss for the Missouri and Kansas attorneys general, who had both joined the lawsuit seeking to remove mifepristone nationwide.

The Supreme Court heard a case Tuesday about whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration overstepped when it revised requirements for how a medication abortion drug should be dosed and prescribed. The case was brought by attorney Erin Hawley, the wife of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

New laws that went into effect this month in Kansas could have a significant impact on the lives of residents. But some may still face the scrutiny of a court challenge.

A year after the U.S Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, divisions in the anti-abortion movement are becoming more visible. In Kansas, "abortion abolitionists" have begun organizing for a nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions — and for abortion patients to be charged with murder.

Missouri was the first state to pass a near-total abortion ban after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But advocates also say the decision has had spillover effects, sowing confusion over the legality of contraception and concern over doctors’ discretion to provide emergency care.

Although Missouri was the fastest state to ban abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned, access hasn't shifted much because the state "was already in a post-Roe world." But elsewhere in the Midwest and southern U.S., abortion patients now have to travel a lot further.

Kansas abortion clinics are challenging four state abortion restrictions, including a decades-old 24-hour waiting period and a new “abortion pill reversal” law.

The Missouri Family Health Council is using federal funds to allow Missourians to request kits with free contraceptive pills by visiting their website or going to one of the partnering in-person centers to pick them up.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has seen some of her vetoes of culture wars legislation and others overridden by conservative Republicans who control the Kansas Legislature.