Protesters hold signs at a June 24, 2022, rally in Kansas City, Missouri, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Kansas has become one of few states in the region to offer abortion services, leading to a surge in out-of-state patients. (Margaret Mellott/Kansas Reflector)
Abortion is set to be on the ballot this fall in four states — Colorado, Florida, Maryland and South Dakota.
A measure in New York is in limbo after a judge ruled that lawmakers fumbled procedural rules when passing the resolution. Meanwhile, abortion-rights supporters in Missouri and Nevada are waiting on tallies from election officials confirming that they collected enough verified signatures.
In Arkansas, Arizona, Montana and Nebraska, summer deadlines to submit the required number of signatures for abortion petitions are quickly approaching.
The stakes of abortion referendums are especially high in the middle of the country, a region abound with restrictions in all but a few states.
Kansas, where pregnancy termination is legal up to 22 weeks, is considered a major point for abortion access in the Great Plains. But the Trust Women clinic in Wichita has temporarily halted services. Leaders at the reproductive health provider said staff changes and the search for a new medical director led to the stoppage, but it will be an “extremely short-lived hiatus.”
“Nothing nefarious has happened,” Trust Women president Sapphire Garcia told Kansas Reflector. “But anytime an organization goes through a transition like this in leadership, it’s prudent to stop and pause and reflect on the resources that we currently have, what we might need, and to take that pause before moving ahead.”
Ten doctors have left the clinic in recent weeks due to leadership turnover, according to Rewire News Group, which first reported the temporary closure. The Wichita clinic served more than 4,000 patients last year, and most of them lived in other states. Kansas has five other abortion clinics.
In 2022, the year the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, nearly 8,500 people received abortions in Kansas, according to state data. Providers saw the most patients from Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma. For instance, 2,883 Missouri residents sought abortions in Kansas two years ago, according to the state Department of Health and Environment.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom submitted nearly 400,000 signatures this month for an initiative seeking to restore the right to abortion up to fetal viability. The group is waiting on the Republican-led secretary of state’s office to verify its petition-signatures.
Boone County has emerged as the focus of initiative campaigns, Missouri Independent reported. During redistricting, lawmakers split Columbia — “a Democratic stronghold and a population center” that’s home to the state’s flagship university — into two congressional districts.
Some lawmakers argued that the GOP-dominated legislature inadvertently made it easier for petitions to get enough signatures in at least six districts, a requirement to make the ballot, according to the Independent.
“The most important place for the pro-choice movement in 2024 is Boone County, Missouri,” said Stephen Webber, a Columbia Democrat running for state Senate.
