Texans made up largest segment of Kansas abortion patients in 2023
- Published: Jan. 08, 2025, 7:00 a.m.
A protester stands on the steps of the Kansas Statehouse during a rally against the Supreme Court's ruling on abortion June 24, 2022, in Topeka.AP
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The number of abortions performed in Kansas reached a record high in 2023, with the largest segment of patients actually coming from Texas, according to a recently released state health report.
Kansas’ 2023 Annual Summary of Vital Statistics documented the highest number of abortions in the state since it began tracking the procedure in 1976. The nearly 19,500 abortions performed in 2023 were a 58% increase from 2022, which recorded around 12,300 procedures.
Texans made up the highest portion of these patients. Roughly 7,600 people from the Lone Star State received an abortion in Kansas in 2023, representing 39% of Kansas’ entire abortion patient population that year. The second-largest group was Kansans themselves, at 4,356 patients.
Other significant shares of out-of-state patients came from Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Over 15,000 people traveled to Kansas from another state to receive an abortion in 2023, according to the state report.
“The report reflects what we’ve seen and shared since the Dobbs decision: patients from states that have denied access to critical, life-saving care continue to rely on Kansas as an access point during a national crisis,” said Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, in a news release.
More than 35,000 Texans traveled out-of-state for an abortion in 2023, according to a Guttmacher Institute analysis. New Mexico received the most patients, while Kansas treated the second most.
Kansas traditionally has a high share of out-of-state abortion patients, with an almost even split of abortions performed on residents and nonresidents from the mid-2000s to 2021, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.
However, after the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade in 2022, many neighboring states restricted or fully banned abortion access. This includes Texas, which passed a near-total ban.
The same year, Kansas was the first state in the nation to hold a referendum on abortion access. About 60% of voters supported keeping the procedure legal, rejecting a proposal to amend the state constitution to say there is no constitutional right to abortion.
This is the first report on state abortion numbers since the Kansas Legislature passed House Bill 2749, which requires biannual reports of every terminated pregnancy. Except in the case of a medical emergency, patients must be asked why they are seeking an abortion. Each report also is required to include which state the patient lives in.
The bill was vetoed by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly in April 2024, but the Legislature overrode her objection.
“There is no valid medical reason to force a woman to disclose to the legislature if they have been a victim of abuse, rape, or incest prior to obtaining an abortion,” Kelly said in her veto filing. “There is also no valid reason to force a woman to disclose to the legislature why she is seeking an abortion.”
