2022 was a year that left many women and childbearing people worried about their autonomy, as many lost a large part of their autonomy when the Supreme Court decided to overrule the decades-long ruling of Roe v. Wade. When the court made this decision, they removed the federal protection of access to safe abortions in all states, making laws regarding abortions up to the states. This led to many states completely banning abortions or making laws so restrictive that they were essentially banned. There were a handful of states who kept laws granting access to abortions to women and other childbearing people, most of which also offered up their services as a safe haven state. This meant people could travel to these states from other states and still receive abortion services.

Kansas is one such state that kept access to abortion care and stood as a safe haven state for others.

Recently, Kansas released its statistics regarding the abortions performed in the state in 2022 and the numbers were vastly different than they had been the year prior, due to the surrounding states banning abortions. As one of the few states in the Great Plains that maintained access to abortions, many people from surrounding states traveled to Kansas to gain access to an abortion. This was reflected in the 57% increase in the number of abortions that were performed in Kansas in 2022 compared to 2021. A total of 12,318 abortions were performed in Kansas. In 2021, the total number of abortions performed in the state was 7,849. Of the 12,000 plus abortions in 2022, only about 3,843 were performed on Kansas state residents. This number is actually lower than the number of abortions performed on state residents in 2021.

This means that approximately 8,475 of the abortions done in Kansas in 2023 were done on out-of-state residents that had to flee their home state in order to have access to an abortion. Most of the out-of-state folks seeking an abortion in Kansas came from Texas, then Missouri, followed by Oklahoma, then Arkansas, and lastly Louisiana. Several other states had people visit Kansas for an abortion, but all of those only accounted for a dozen or less of the total number of Kansas abortions.

The total number of abortions that happened in 2022 in Kansas is the highest the state has seen since 2001.

The number of out-of-staters that went to Kansas or their abortions made up the highest number in 2022 since the last record year of 1981. The numbers released in these statistics prove what a lack of abortion access in a state will do. Despite the drastic increase, Kansas continues to work toward remaining a safe haven state to all.