Kansas
New Kansas abortion clinic will open to help meet demand from restrictive neighboring states
A new abortion clinic will open in southeast Kansas this fall, bolstering the state’s role as a regional hub for reproductive health services whose neighbors have severely restricted access since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains announced Tuesday that Pittsburg, Kansas, will be home to a new facility providing abortion procedures and pills, as well as pregnancy services, contraception, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
After the Roe reversal, Kansas was the first state where voters weighed in on abortion at the ballot box, resoundingly rejecting a constitutional amendment that could have led to an abortion ban in August 2022.
Since then, the state — which prohibits abortions after 21 weeks of pregnancy — has become a destination for people from more restrictive nearby states seeking abortion.
In March 2023, 44% of abortion patients at Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas traveled more than 250 miles (402 kilometers), compared with just 1% two years earlier, according to the organization. More than half of abortion patients are now from Texas, and some have come from as far as Florida in recent weeks, said Emily Wales, president and chief executive officer of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains.
“You walk across the state line from Missouri to Kansas and you automatically become a freer person who can actually take care of your medical needs in a different way,” Wales said. “We see it on the faces of patients who literally breathe easier when they get into Kansas.”
The abortion landscape across the U.S. has been in flux after the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision that revoked a constitutional right to abortion nationwide.
New bans or restrictions have taken effect in most Republican-led states, including 14 where abortion is now outlawed in all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions, and three more where it’s banned after about six weeks of pregnancy – often before women realize they’re pregnant.
For people from those states seeking to end their pregnancies, the main options are either getting abortion pills via telehealth or underground networks, or traveling out of state for abortion pills or procedures.
There were roughly as many in-state residents as out-of-state residents seeking abortions in Kansas in the years before the Supreme Court decision, according to statistics reported to and published by the state’s health department. That’s largely because Kansas City, Kansas, is easily accessible from Missouri, which historically has been limited in providers of abortion services.
In 2022, the figure for out-of-state residents given consent forms more than doubled to 8,475, state data shows.
Pittsburg, Kansas, is more than 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Kansas City, and 150 miles (241 kilometers) east of Wichita. That means the new clinic location will be hours closer to patients who may be traveling from Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma — and even as far as Louisiana or Texas — where the procedure is restricted.
Pittsburg itself has a dearth of providers for contraception and other sexual health services, Wales said, but it has the “added benefit of being so closely located to neighboring states.” The Pittsburg facility will later provide gender-affirming services as well.
Clinics are shifting to accommodate out-of-state demand elsewhere, too. New Mexico has pledged $10 million to a new facility in Las Cruces, near the Texas border; a clinic opened last year in Western Maryland, a few miles from West Virginia; and two new clinics have opened in the southern Illinois city of Carbondale.
Ingrid Duran, director of state legislation for National Right to Life, said it’s not surprising to see new clinics pop up to meet out-of-state demand because of the financial opportunity for providers, she said.
“And it’s not surprising to know that people who want to get abortions would travel out of the state if it’s not being offered there,” she said. She said states should also offer resources that “hopefully persuade abortion-minded women to choose something different.”
Caitlin Myers, an economics professor at Middlebury College who researches abortion policies, said she’s counted 78 abortion facilities opening across the U.S. between May 1, 2022, and April 1 of this year. That number includes 10 moved from another location in the same state, seven that moved across state lines and 61 new providers.
The growth in providers situated near state lines has generated new efforts from those opposed to abortion to restrict the practice, calling it “abortion trafficking.”
A Texas man is trying to force his former partner to say who helped her obtain an out-of-state abortion in a step toward civil enforcement of the Texas abortion ban.
Lawmakers in at least two states have taken aim at people who help minors access abortion without parental consent. Tennessee legislators last month passed a bill that would make it illegal to help minors obtain abortions without parental consent; Republican Gov. Bill Lee has not yet taken action on it. Idaho adopted a similar law last year, though a federal judge has blocked enforcement while its constitutionality is questioned.
Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is a strong supporter of abortion rights, but the GOP-controlled Legislature has veto-proof majorities and strong contingents opposed to abortion.
This year, the Legislature passed bills — and later overrode Kelly’s vetoes — for statutes that will require abortion providers to ask patients why they are terminating their pregnancies and report the answers to the state, and that will make it a specific crime to coerce someone into having an abortion.
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Fingerhut reported from Oakland, New Jersey, and Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
A Kansas City man has been charged with the murder of a teen following a shooting in Klamm Park last weekend.
LaRon Jaka Belcher III, 21, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Branden Jamal Baskin, 18. Baskin lived in Kansas City, Kansas, according to the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office.
Wyandotte County Sheriff’s deputies responded to Klamm Park at 2515 N 27th St in Kansas City, Kansas, around 6:30 p.m. on July 21, The Star previously reported. Deputies found Baskin dead at the park, which is located behind KCK Fire Department Station 14.
Two other suspects, an adult and a juvenile, were arrested after the shooting, The Star reported. Belcher alone was charged with murder.
Court documents indicate that the shooting took place while Belcher was trying to sell or distribute some form of controlled substance.
Belcher was booked into the Wyandotte County Jail earlier this week, according to jail records. A Wyandotte County set his bond at $200,000 at a hearing Friday morning.
Belcher is set to next appear in court on August 6.
Baskin’s death was the 16th homicide reported in Kansas City, Kansas, in 2024, according to data collected by The Star. At the same time last year, 14 homicides had been reported in the city.
CINCINNATI — First, Ja’Marr Chase refused to say his name. Now, he’s getting trolled by the Raiders.
Las Vegas trolled Patrick Mahomes with a Kermit doll. Mahomes responded on Friday.
“Stuff like that happens,” Mahomes said. “It’ll get handled when it gets handled.”
Mahomes is 10-2 in his career against the Raiders. Trash talking him is a bold choice.
The Bengals play the Chiefs in Week 2. It’s reasonable to call it the best rivalry in the NFL. It would be shocking to see Cincinnati troll Kansas City that way and they’ve had head-to-head success against them.
A bold choice by Las Vegas. Check out the troll video and Mahomes’ response below:
Patrick Mahomes responds:
“It’ll get handled when it gets handled.” 👀pic.twitter.com/OpyfiZqjEn https://t.co/6slSBkdu5O
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) July 26, 2024
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Two recently opened Kansas City attractions were announced today among 100 extraordinary destinations to visit; named to TIME’s list of the World’s Greatest Places.
TIME’s annual feature includes CPKC Stadium, home to the KC Current and the first stadium in the world purpose-built for a women’s professional team, and The Rabbit hOle, a North Kansas City children’s literary museum that debuted this spring after years of anticipation.
To compile the list, TIME solicited nominations of places — including hotels, cruises, restaurants, attractions, museums, parks, and more — from its international network of correspondents and contributors, as well as via an application process, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences.
The Kansas City selections reflected those timely elements, editors said.
“Like Alice in Wonderland, visitors go down the rabbit hole (quite literally into a “hole” of winding tunnels and caves), tumbling into classic and contemporary storybooks and meeting life-size characters,” TIME wrote in its description of the newly opened Rabbit hOle.
Spanning three floors, visitors can catch a ride with Nana and CJ on the bus to “The Last Stop on Market Street”; whisper “Goodnight Moon” in the quiet dark of the great green room; outshine Mr. Sun with “Sam and the Tigers”; feed jum-jills to “The Funny Thing”; or find themselves scaling the cliffs of “My Father’s Dragon” when visiting the magical museum.
“The Rabbit hOle is a living thing, and it becomes something new for every visitor who enters it,” said Deb Pettid, co-director at The Rabbit hOle. “It’s impossible to define, but that’s what makes it a true place of discovery. And where else can you read a book inside a book?”
Julie Denesha
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KCUR 89.3
“Since opening this March, we’ve had more than 60,000 visitors from nearly every state and all over the world,” added Pete Cowdin, co-director. “The Rabbit hOle is unlike anything, anywhere.”
The Rabbit hOle also features a bookstore, print shop and story lab, makerspace, resource library, gallery for original book art and a cafe, making it an ideal space for innovative programming and private events.
CPKC Stadium also deserves its spot on the list, said Raven Jemison, president of the KC Current.
“Ownership’s vision has changed women’s professional sports for generations to come,” Jemison said. “CPKC Stadium is proof that an investment in women is a smart one as we continue to sell out KC Current matches. Fans from all over the globe have made the trip to Kansas City to witness history. Now the world knows what the excitement is about; we’re just getting started.”
CPKC Stadium has been on a worldwide stage since formally opening in March.
On July 3, CPKC Stadium was announced as the venue for the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League Championship, which is set for Nov. 23. The stadium is also the host venue for the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup semifinals Aug. 6 and was selected as the site for the 2024 Big 12 Soccer Championship.
The stadium has also hosted a variety of national conferences, like the United States Conference of Mayors, as well as private and local events like the city’s AANHPI Heritage Festival.
This story was originally published on Startland News, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
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