Here’s how abortions in Kansas will change after Texas ruling to block abortion pill

Kansas abortion providers have no plans to stop offering medication abortions, even though a federal judge in Texas ruled that a key abortion drug should be pulled from the marketplace nationwide.

Judge Matthew Kacsymaryk issued his ruling Friday, which, if it is allowed to go into effect, would end the use of mifepristone in medication abortions in the United States. His ruling would invalidate the Food and Drug Administration’s 23-year-old approval of the pill, which, paired with a second medication, accounted for nearly 70% of Kansas abortions in 2021.

But the judge delayed implementation of his ruling for seven days.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal in the 5th District Court of Appeals. If the appeals court does not act quickly or pause the implementation of Kacsymaryk’s order, the Justice Department could elevate the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

While the ruling puts mifepristone at risk, providers say it will not immediately stop them from providing medication abortion.

The earliest the ruling could take effect is Saturday, though the appeals process could delay or prevent that. Officials at Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Trust Women Foundation said Kansas clinics would pivot to providing medication abortions using only misoprostol — typically the second pill taken in a medication abortion.

“Misoprostol-only protocols have existed and predate the use of mife and is a successful way to end a pregnancy,” said Ashley Brink, Wichita clinic director for Trust Women.

Currently, Kansas clinics are still providing patients with both mifepristone and misoprostol in medication abortions because the ruling is not effective.

Emily Wales, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said the single-drug protocol is similar to their current practice.

But, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, an abortion with both pills is 99.6% effective, while just using misoprostol is effective 80%-100% of the time.

The single pill regimen has been used in the U.S. in the past and in other countries but is not the method approved by the FDA.

Since Roe v. Wade fell last June, Kansas has become a major access point for abortion in the Great Plains. For years, abortion clinics in the Kansas City region have served a large number of patients from Missouri, which now bans almost all abortions.

There are currently five abortion clinics in the state: two in Wichita, two in Overland Park and one in Kansas City, Kansas. Last year, Planned Parenthood began offering telemedicine medication abortion through its Kansas clinics.

Kansans for Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion advocacy group, applauded the Texas judge’s ruling, calling it “an important step towards correcting the FDA’s unwise decision.” They, like the judge, argued that mifepristone held “inherent risks” to safety.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, there is less than half a percent risk of major complications from mifepristone.

Missouri state Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat, told The Star that the Texas ruling was a “giant hit to women” and reinforces confusion about what constitutes abortion care under Missouri’s ban. Abortion activists and doctors have consistently criticized the law as being too vague.

Nurrenbern said Missourians will continue to flock to Kansas and other surrounding states where abortion is still legal.

“Those who are seeking care will find care,” she said. “My heart goes out to women who are just trying to get by in our state right now.”

Wales said that since the ruling, the days have been flooded with calls from patients worried they won’t be able to receive a planned medication abortion. Several patients, she said, have opted for a surgical abortion instead, worried that they couldn’t access a medication abortion or that the medication wouldn’t work after they travel for it.

“We’re used to pivoting and changing, but for patients who see this as health care and who assume that they can access care it is shocking and deeply upsetting,” Wales said.

Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat, said she believed the Texas ruling would make women seeking abortions in Kansas and nationwide less safe.

She said the ruling was yet another example of “the state coming in between doctors and their patients under the guise of concern.”

Though medication abortion will continue to be available if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Texas ruling, Wales said it sets a dangerous precedent in which numerous tools used in abortion — including misoprostol — could be challenged in court.

“It throws a lot of doubt into a system where medical expertise and science, the things that we rely on, and those are no longer the basis for how decisions are made including in the court system when it comes to abortion access,” Wales said.

“It creates an incredible amount of doubt about what comes next for providers.”

The Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed to this report.