Kansas
Kansas City area mother shares story of being an abortion survivor
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Melissa Ohden was born premature. She always knew that. She was adopted and she always knew that too.
She was 14 years old when she learned her birth was the result of a failed saline infusion abortion back in 1977. She weighed less than three pounds.
“There is nothing that prepares you for a moment like that. There’s so many questions of, how does it happen? Why did it happen? Does that mean I’m so unlovable, I’m so unworthy,” said Melissa Ohden.
Ohden is the author of the book “You Carried Me” which outlines her journey of self-discovery and healing.
She eventually tracked down medical records documenting the failed procedure which led her to connect with her birth mother who also lives in the Kansas City area.
“She lives in Missouri. My birth mom, Ruth, lives in Odessa. I have a half-sister, Jennifer, and her kids that live in Blue Springs,” said Melissa.
Melissa says her birth mother never knew she was born alive and suspects her birth father didn’t know either. She wrote him a letter, but he died shortly after she sent it.
“My birth father passed away not long after I sent him a letter back in 2007, and I don’t know if he knew that I had survived that abortion,” said Melissa.
Abortion Survivors
Melissa now runs the Abortion Survivors Network. She says many people don’t have documentation backing up their birth stories. It’s mostly family secrets that are handed down. Survivors often struggle when learning the truth.
Not every state keeps track of efficacy- meaning did the procedure work?
Missouri included that information in its last annual abortion report in 2022. The information is in the “abortion complication section.”
It states that 12 abortions “failed, pregnancy undisturbed.”
Planned Parenthood’s own website reveals the effectiveness of medication abortions by how many weeks a woman is into her pregnancy and the combination of medications prescribed. The effectiveness is anywhere from 87% to 99% effective.
Saline-infused abortions are now quite rare due to side effects and the procedure requires hospitalization. More effective procedures are now available.
Upcoming Amendment 3 vote
Melissa has strong feelings about the upcoming Amendment 3 vote. She will vote “no.”
Click here to read the exact language.
“I want people to read through this language and be educated about it, to know what the impact of a yes or a no vote on it would be,” said Melissa.
She questions what limits will be in place if Missouri chooses abortion services. She also points next door to Kansas which now provides abortion services for women from numerous states. She does not want Missouri to be a major abortion provider.
She also points to her birth mother, Ruth and what she went through.
“There was a pain in her eyes that I will never, ever forget. And if there’s one thing I could change about my whole story, it would be her pain. I wish I could take that away from her,” said Melissa.

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Kansas
Colorado vs. Kansas State Kickoff Time Announced
The Colorado Buffaloes are 3-8 with one game remaining in the regular season, a road contest against the Kansas State Wildcats. On Sunday, the kickoff time for Colorado vs. Kansas State was announced for 10 a.m. MT on Saturday, Nov. 29, and the game will be broadcast on FS1. Accustomed to playing the evening games, Colorado will have an early one on the road against Kansas State.
Colorado coach Deion Sanders and his team have failed to meet expectations in 2025, but they are building towards the future with quarterback Julian Lewis taking over the offense as a true freshman. On the other side, Kansas State has also had a rather unexpected season under third-year starting quarterback Avery Johnson.
The Wildcats are 5-6 after nearly upsetting the No. 12 Utah Utes, meaning Kansas State will be playing Colorado with bowl eligibility on the line. Can “Coach Prime” and the Buffaloes spoil Kansas State’s final home game of the season?
The Wildcats offense is known to use Johnson as a runner, a matchup that could give the Colorado defense fits.
Colorado trailed Arizona State 21-17 entering the fourth quarter, but the Sun Devils scored 21 unanswered points in the final frame to beat the Buffaloes 42-17. Arizona State started their run with a fumble by Colorado running back Ronald Coleman, and the Sun Devils never looked back.
Arizona State running back Raleek Brown rushed for 255 yards on 22 carries as Colorado’s defense again struggled to stop the run. Sanders addressed some of the Buffs’ issues after the game:
“Defensively, we’ve got to do much better. We forced turnovers, and offensively, we got to score. Didn’t do any of that. It’s tough. It’s tough to think that we don’t have more in the tank to come up with some things to take advantage of those situations. And that’s situational football, we got to be much better than that, and we weren’t. We weren’t, and we aren’t.”
MORE: What Deion Sanders Said About History With Arizona State Coach Kenny Dillingham
MORE: Shedeur Sanders’ Browns Start Is Changing Colorado NFL History
MORE: Advanced Analytics Predict Upset Chance Of Colorado vs. Arizona State
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Sanders also spoke about Lewis’ development as a true freshman. The young quarterback finished with 161 passing yards and a touchdown, completing 50 percent of his attempts.
“He’s a good kid, he’s a good young man. He has a bright future ahead of him. We can’t just take this game and berate him or whatever, because I think he did some wonderful things last week. He did some wonderful things this week, but you got to understand, he’s a freshman playing against a really good football team, and we’ve just got to do better at capitalizing on certain downs,” Sanders said.
According to FanDuel, Kansas State is favored by 17.5 points over Colorado. The moneyline for the Buffaloes to pull off the upset is currently +680, and the points total is set at 51.5.
Kansas
5 numbers that stood out in Iowa State football’s win vs Kansas
Rocco Becht breaks down Iowa State football’s win over Kansas
Hear from Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht on the Cyclones’ win over Kansas.
AMES — Iowa State football won its second straight game on Nov. 22.
The Cyclones took down Kansas, 38-14, in the final home game of the season, two weeks after beating TCU (which was followed by an off week). Matt Campbell’s squad now sits at 7-4 overall and 4-4 against Big 12 opponents.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of Iowa State’s win over the Jayhawks.
1 … as in Aiden Flora’s first rushing touchdown of the season
There were plenty of big moments in Iowa State’s victory over Kansas, with 15 plays accounting for 293 offensive yards gained. And it was a group effort in the ground game: Carson Hansen with 120 rushing yards (and one touchdown), Abu Sama with 67 yards and Flora with 51.
Flora, a redshirt freshman running back who typically serves as a kick and punt returner, put the exclamation point on Iowa State’s win, running 38 yards into the end zone for the Cyclones’ fifth touchdown of the game. He had a punt-return touchdown in the win against TCU.
2 … as in Iowa State has won two straight games
The Cyclones have experienced a series of streaks this year: five wins, four losses and now two wins. Iowa State beat TCU on the road a couple of weeks ago and – coming off the bye week – the Cyclones took down Kansas in the final game at Jack Trice Stadium this season.
3 … as in three penalties called against Iowa State
The Cyclones played a mostly penalty-free game, in contrast to some of their flag-filled contests this season. There were only three penalties called against Iowa State: false start against Jim Bonifas, holding against Brendan Black and pass interference against Marcus Neal.
Of those calls, two came in the third quarter and one came in the fourth, and they cost the Cyclones 30 yards in total.
7 … as in seven passes broken up by Iowa State’s defense
Kansas couldn’t get much of anything going on offense, with the Cyclones defense making it a challenge. Seven different players accounted for the seven pass break-ups: Carson Van Dinter, Kooper Ebel, Tre Bell, David Coffey, Quentin Taylor, Beni Ngoyi and Hunter Sowell.
Marcus Neal also came down with an interception, his second of the season.
10 … as in Rocco Becht went 10-of-10 to start the game
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Iowa State quarterback, and that was evident in Becht’s performance against Kansas. He completed his first 10 pass attempts, going without an incompletion through the first quarter and into the second quarter.
That streak snapped when Leroy Harris III tipped a pass and Becht threw two more incompletions – with another one broken up, this time by Trey Lathan – on the final drive of the second quarter.
Becht finished with a 78% completion rate, going 18-of-23 for 241 yards and three touchdowns – with no interceptions.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
Kansas
2025-26 Kansas State MBB: Game 6 vs Nebraska
The Kansas State Wildcats are officially entering the “pay-attention” neighborhood. After a 98-77 drubbing of a decent Mississippi State squad last night, the 5-0 Wildcats are starting to appear like a legitimately solid squad…one that could be capable of fun things if they can keep things rolling into the heart of the season.
They’ve got another big test tonight. The Cats will face the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the championship of the 2025 Hall of Fame Classic. The Huskers are also 5-0, and advanced to the championship game after an 84-72 win over New Mexico in the opening game of the classic. The Huskers are led by Fred Hoiberg, who is in his seventh season in Lincoln, and are looking for a return to the NCAA Tournament after winning the College Basketball Crown to end the 2024-25 season.
The last time these two teams met was Dec. 17th, 2023, when the Huskers beat up on the Wildcats 62-46 in Manhattan, a win that snapped a 7-game win streak for the Wildcats over their former Big 12 conference mates. But that K-State team was significantly more offensively inept than the current iteration of the TangCats. These TangCats are lighting up the nets with a return to the “fun” brand of basketball that marked Jerome Tang’s first season in Manhattan. And last night, the Wildcats showed they could even manage some defense more consistently than the final couple minutes.
This will be the biggest test yet for the Wildcats. A win would be a huge springboard into the heart of the season. A loss doesn’t hurt, as long as it’s productive. Can the Wildcats handle the quick turnaround and keep building?
We’ve got an 8:30pm CT tipoff for the championship game of the Hall of Fame Classic tonight from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, and you can catch the action on NBCSN and streaming on Peacock with Steve Schlanger (play-by-play) and Tre Demps (analyst) on the call.
If you can’t access the stream, the game can be heard across portions of the 28-station K-State Sports Network with Wade Gerstner (play-by-play) and Clent Stewart (analyst) calling the action. The game will also be available online at K-Statesports.com and via the Varsity Network app, as well as on satellite radio at Sirius/XM Ch. 383. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateMBB) will also be a part of the coverage.
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