Kansas plans to report 2022 abortion numbers this month

TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment plans to release annual abortion data before the June 30 deadline, state officials say.

The agency typically provides an annual report in March that details the number of abortions provided in Kansas during the previous calendar year. The data provides insight into the age, race and residency status of patients who terminate a pregnancy in Kansas, among other information.

Kansans for Life, an anti-abortion group, said the state has never waited this long to release the annual report. The group issued a news release on Thursday demanding Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration produce numbers for abortions recorded in 2022.

“This is the longest delay we’ve ever seen in the release of the annual abortion statistics report, even during the pandemic,” said Danielle Underwood, Kansans for Life’s Director of Communications. “Why is the Kelly administration holding back last year’s abortion statistics?”

A spokeswoman for the governor said the deadline is the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30.

Matt Lara, spokesman for KDHE, said the report will be posted online before the end of the month.

“We’ve been taking the time we need to make sure the reporting is right,” Lara said.

The report is expected to show an increase in out-of-state residents seeking an abortion in Kansas following last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to abolish a federal right to terminate a pregnancy. Among neighboring states, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas have banned abortion. Nebraska has a 12-week ban.

A Kansas Supreme Court ruling in 2019 determined the state’s constitutional right to bodily autonomy includes the right to terminate a pregnancy. Voters in August 2022 overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment to eliminate that right.

Last year’s report by KDHE showed 7,849 abortion procedures in Kansas in 2021. About half involved Kansas patients, and almost all of the out-of-state patients were from Missouri.

Six girls younger than 14 received an abortion in Kansas in 2021, as well as nearly 200 among the ages of 14 through 17, according to the report.

About 70% of patients terminated their pregnancy within the first two months, and 90% within the first 12 weeks. No abortions occurred outside of 22 weeks, the legal threshold in Kansas except in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.

The mifepristone pill accounted for 67.8% of the abortions in Kansas.