Planned Parenthood Great Plains, a Planned Parenthood affiliate, began providing abortions using telemedicine help to increase outreach to patients, mostly in rural clinics this week. The patient is provided with abortion-inducing pills and provided assistance via a telemedicine visit.

In November, a Kansas judge blocked a law preventing abortions via telemedicine visits. Three weeks later, Kansas clinics within the Planned Parenthood Great Plains network began offering abortion assistance using telemedicine calls. This, they say, relieves an overstressed medical system that provides more than abortions.

Once a center for anti-abortion “extremism”, Kansas has laws now that protect the right to abortion. Kansas is a hub for women in the Plains states who seek abortions, as it is surrounded by states that have abortion bans in place. Planned Parenthood filled the vacuum. Planned Parenthood Great Plains President and CEO Emily Wales notes they are starting out small, having seen three patients via telemedicine calls on Monday. But, she cites “an overwhelming need” for the service. Come one, come all.

“We have such overwhelming need. We are not able to see the majority of people who are calling us right now,” Wales said. “And that hurts to say out loud.”

She said they see patients from all over their region, but people also travel from as far away as South Texas and Louisiana.

“Kansas is pretty critical for abortion access in the country,” said Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst with the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research group. “If you could relieve pressure on capacity via telehealth, that’s incredibly important.”

Wales said a lack of consistent staffing means the clinic in Wichita only provides abortions two or three days a week. The clinics around Kansas City offer more consistent care, but it’s not enough for a state that people throughout the region depend on for abortion.

Wales said she hasn’t interviewed one prospective abortion provider who hasn’t asked her about security. That’s especially poignant in Kansas. In 2009, an antiabortion extremist killed physician George Tiller, who ran an abortion clinic in Wichita and was one of the only doctors in the country to perform late-term abortions.

Seventeen states allow abortion but ban abortion services via telemedicine. Those states includes some of Kansas’ neighbors – Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and even Texas. Planned Parenthood Great Plains abortionists provide abortions for women in states with bans. It seems to me that telemedicine can be used in many cases but in abortion? I think providing a medical abortion should require an office visit. It’s a two-pill process that takes 48 hours for a woman’s body to process but problems can arise that require medical attention. It seems like the woman should be physically checked when the process is finished.

A pro-life group responded to this development in Kansas.

“True to form, the abortion industry is once again putting its own profits and convenience ahead of safeguards for the health of women and girls,” said Danielle Underwood, KFL Director of Communications in a media release from the organization.

“This time, abortionists are heartlessly pursuing their goal to perform larger numbers of abortions by withholding direct and needed physical care of an onsite physician. Once again, this has sadly become another ‘I told you so’ moment as women and babies in Kansas will be the ones who suffer from these actions.”

“Pro-life Kansans have issued urgent, repeated warnings since 2019 that the abortion industry planned to push for the overturn of reasonable, existing limits on abortion and make our state an ever-growing regional destination for abortion. These predictions become truer by the day,” said Underwood.

Kansans for Life claims that studies show that one in 20 women suffer a failed chemical abortion. Rural women are at greater risk from chemical abortions if there is an emergency. They may be more isolated from medical facilities if they need to be admitted to a hospital for surgery or a blood transfusion to save their lives.

Kansas, once a strongly pro-life state, surprised the country when state residents voted against a constitutional amendment that said there is no right to an abortion last summer, after the Dobbs decision came down from the Supreme Court. The Kansas ballot initiative was seen as a bellwether for the impact of abortion on the midterm November elections.