Kansas
‘Take back some control’: Kansas abortion provider offers vasectomies • Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — A regional abortion provider is rolling out vasectomy services in Kansas as part of a toolkit to keep reproductive choices secure at the family level.
The move comes after increased demand as multiple states attempt to chip away at reproductive rights.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains is hosting a low-cost two-day vasectomy clinic at its Kansas City, Kansas, health center May 30-31 to kick off the service, which will continue to be offered at the center.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains president and CEO Emily Wales said the decision came after increased demand following the 2022 federal overturn of abortion protections.
“We don’t see hesitation,” Wales said. “We see folks who are really appreciative, excited. It is a pretty cool thing I think, to have patients here who are saying openly, ‘This moment is a terrible one for sexual and reproductive health care. And this is a thing I can do to help take care of my family and my loved ones. And I’m going to do it for all of us.’ ”
While Kansas is one of the few states in the region left that protects abortion — legal up to 22 weeks of gestation — the state has been flooded with out-of-state travelers needing abortion services. Kansas has six centers that provide abortions, but one has shut down services with no set deadline to reopen after staff changes.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains has added a handful of appointments to mitigate the effect of the shutdown, but the organization is already dealing with a heavy workload. The organization will be expanding access this fall, opening a center in southeast Kansas to keep up with demand.
Wales estimated the boom in demand began in 2021, when the Texas Legislature initiated a six-week abortion ban, prompting a wave of Texans traveling to Kansas for abortion care. The 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade increased need, especially after Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana banned abortion.
In-state abortion providers have also had to contend with a web of abortion restrictions passed by a Republican-dominated Legislature. While Kansas voters in August of 2022 overwhelmingly defeated a constitutional amendment meant to take away the right to terminate a pregnancy, lawmakers have continuously tried to restrict the procedure, adding more regulations to the Women’s Right to Know Act, a patchwork legislation governing the state’s abortion protocols.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains and other abortion providers in-state have ongoing litigation against several provisions in the act, most recently challenging an “abortion survey” law passed in 2024.
“We’re not strangers to having to adapt our processes, make changes, go through hurdles and hoops,” Wales said. “But in a state like Kansas, where you have a constitutional protection to access this care, we shouldn’t be going through any of those hurdles and hoops.”
To combat state restrictions, the organization launched vasectomy services last year starting with a Tulsa, Oklahoma, center and expanding through Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The organization has completed 189 vasectomy procedures to date.
“Providing accessible reproductive and sexual health care is at the core of our mission to empower individuals to lead healthy, autonomous lives,” said Iman Alsaden, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood Great Plains.
The overall rate of U.S. vasectomy procedures has increased since the end of Roe, becoming a more popular birth control option as states imposed partial or total abortion bans. The procedure is permanent, can be accomplished in one appointment and is relatively cheap compared to other methods of birth control such as IUDS. Planned Parenthood Great Plains estimates a cost of $250 to $750 for a vasectomy during the two-day clinic.
“We saw a bump in patients requesting IUD implants and I think vasectomy is kind of the same reaction where folks were caught off guard, shocked by what the Supreme Court did, shocked by the idea that the government could control such personal decisions,” Wales said. “And so vasectomy feels like a way to take back some of that control over your own body and your own future.”
Kansas
Extra slice, extra time: Kansas inmate’s pizza grab lands him 16 more months in prison
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (KCTV) – A Kansas inmate will spend more time behind bars after a dispute over an extra slice of pizza turned physical.
Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson announced on Wednesday, March 25, that Wyatt C. Parnell, 42, an inmate at Lansing Correctional Facility, was sentenced to 16 additional months.
Prosecutors indicated that the sentence is the result of an attempt to assault a corrections officer during a December 2019 dining hall confrontation.
What Happened
Court records noted that the incident happened around 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2019 – the day after Christmas – in the facility’s maximum-security dining room.
According to prosecutors, Parnell entered the dining hall, picked up a dinner tray and grabbed an extra slice of pizza from a separate tray.
A corrections officer repeatedly ordered him to put the tray down and leave the area; however, court documents revealed that Parnell refused.
When the officer moved to retrieve the tray and again ordered Parnell to leave, prosecutors said he yanked the tray away and threw it on the floor.
Parnell then tried to push past the officer to reach the serving line for another tray, according to court records.
The officer reported that they attempted to detain Parnell, but he resisted, leading to a physical fight.
The Charges & Sentence
Court records indicated that Parnell pleaded no contest to attempted aggravated battery. His new sentence will run consecutively – meaning it is added to the sentence he is already serving.
“Correctional facilities rely on order and compliance to maintain safety for both staff and inmates,” Thompson said. “This sentence reflects the seriousness of disregarding lawful commands and engaging in behavior that puts others at risk.”
Parnell’s Criminal History
Corrections records show that Parnell was already serving time for:
- Kidnapping
- Aggravated battery
- Two counts of criminal threat
Prison records also show a lengthy disciplinary history, including violations for:
- Contraband possession
- Fighting
- Threats
- Lewd acts
- Entering restricted areas
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
Kansas
Kansas firefighters rescue chubby cat trapped in massive recliner while trying to hide from the vet
This cat was feeling stuck.
A fat cat was nearly devoured by an unforgiving reclining chair as it desperately tried to evade its owner and got stuck ahead of an annual visit to the vet — forcing rescuing firefighters to destroy the lounger.
The Garfield lookalike summoned all its strength to avoid its owner ahead of a trip to the veterinarian on Saturday, when it somehow managed to wedge itself in the metal base of a mechanical recliner — which was full of sharp springs and hinges, photos shared by the Overland Park Police Department show.
It appeared to be mewling for help while one firefighter cradled its hind legs and another tended to one front paw. The pussycat then clung to the metal grate with its other paw, not daring to take its beady eyes off a screwdriver in the firefighter’s hand.
The cat’s pudgy belly, jutted out as the recliner’s leg threatened to crush its chest.
Firefighters had to saw the chair in half to free the feline with assistance from animal control.
Police assured that, once the cat was safe, it “arrived to the vet for its annual checkup.”
Feline fanatics weren’t surprised by the orange cat’s brainless bolt for freedom.
“Glad the kitty was safe!!! They will do anything to avoid a visit to the vet!!!!” one woman commented on the police department’s Instagram post.
“Anyone who has an orange cat knows this is just standard #oneorangebraincell life,” another added.
“RIP mechanical recliner,” one user mourned.
In 2024, a 38-pound rescue cat named Crumbs got stuck in a shoe rack while trying to break out of fat camp.
In the viral snapshot of Crumbs’ ignominy, it laid face-down in a blue Croc shoe while its bulbous belly hung between the slots in the rack.
Kansas
Travis Kelce’s $77K watch has a sweet connection to Taylor Swift
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift always know what time it is.
The football player signed a deal to return to the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday (a reported three-year, $54.735 million contract at that), and debuted a special timepiece for the occasion.
Along with his colorful Nike soccer shirt and Chiefs hat, 36-year-old Kelce wore a Santos de Cartier Skeleton watch featuring an open (or “skeletonized”) dial, which retails for a whopping $77,000.
While this appears to be the first time the Super Bowl winner has worn the style (he’s partial to Rolexes), his fiancée owns a different watch from the Santos de Cartier collection.
In December 2024, she showed off a Santos Demoiselle featuring a diamond bezel — and later wore the discontinued style when Kelce proposed in August 2025.
It’s unclear if the watch was a gift from Kelce, but she began wearing it after her milestone 35th birthday. Sources told Page Six at the time that Kelce “showered” her with presents for the occasion — including engraved jewelry.
The Demoiselle was launched in 2008 and discontinued in 2022 — so whoever purchased Swift’s bling got it on the secondhand market, where similar pieces go for around $25,000.
As if the coordinating Cartier wasn’t enough, Kelce proved Swift was on his mind when he signed up for his 14th season with the Chiefs, taking the time to acknowledge a photo of his fiancée in Arrowhead Stadium as he walked in to seal the deal.
Perhaps the couple will choose Cartier Love rings as their wedding bands.
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