A new Planned Parenthood clinic opened Monday in southeast Kansas, providing an access point for reproductive care in nearby states with abortion bans, like Oklahoma.
Emily Wales, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said the clinic in Pittsburg, Kansas, was a response to the care needs of states impacted by the fall of Roe v. Wade. She said the nonprofit got to work after an August 2022 vote in Kansas rejecting a proposed constitutional amendment that would have said there is no right to an abortion in that state.
Wales said its clinic in Kansas City, Kansas has become a place for Missourians to receive care. But patients in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas — which each have abortion bans in place — were traveling further distances.
“Pittsburg meant that we could be pretty close to three other states where there are abortion bans in effect,” Wales said. “And also, it was not lost on us that Crawford County, where Pittsburg is located, had voted to support abortion access, which made it a little bit friendlier as we thought about where to be.”
The Guttmacher Institute — a nonprofit reproductive health policy group — found an estimated 4,000 Oklahomans traveled across state lines to get abortions in 2023. Over 80% of them occurred in Kansas.
The clinic has started providing medication abortions and will phase in surgical care for pregnancies up to 15 weeks. It also will offer all of the comprehensive sexual reproductive care available at its other health centers, including birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings and gender-affirming care services.
“We are starting with a focus on abortion access because it's just such high need,” Wales said.
The clinic is on a reduced schedule of 10 to 15 appointments per day as it launches. But Wales said those appointments are already filling up quickly.
“It's heartbreaking that in week one, even on a reduced schedule, we will see patients from six states,” Wales said. “We'll see Kansans, Missourians, Oklahomans, Arkansans, Texans, and people from Louisiana all coming in the first five days.”
The clinic is closer to places like Tulsa, northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri than the nonprofit’s Wichita clinic.
Wales said the organization is on the front lines with clinics bordering states with abortion restrictions. It’s trying to celebrate moments like the Pittsburg clinic opening, despite the pressure to fill care access gaps.
“It makes me sleep easier that we have Pittsburg, and it can be there to help Oklahomans in particular,” Wales said. “But they shouldn't have to travel in the first place.”
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