New Pittsburg Planned Parenthood Clinic Expands Abortion Access for Patients in and Outside Kansas

A new Planned Parenthood clinic in southeast Kansas will be the closest abortion access point for many people in the South and will provide easier access to reproductive health care for southeast Kansans who previously had to travel to Overland Park. The Pittsburg Planned Parenthood clinic is set to open Monday, Aug. 19. The center expects to have patients from six states in its first five days — Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.

Strategic Location and Regional Demand

Wales said a key factor in the Pittsburg location was access to Southern states. Pittsburg is about five miles from the Missouri border. Kansas saw a 369% increase in abortions in 2023, with 69% of patients coming from out of state, according to the Guttmacher Institute. For the Trust Women Clinic in Wichita, which was previously the closest city for abortion access for Southern states, 81% of patients were from out of state, with Texas the most common homestate, followed by Oklahoma.

Abortion Restrictions in Neighboring States

Texas and Oklahoma have total abortion bans, with few exceptions. Southern states have six-week abortion bans. On average, pregnant people know they are pregnant after 5.2 weeks for intendent pregnancies and 7.2 weeks for unintended pregnancies, the National Library of Medicine found.

Services Provided at the Pittsburg Clinic

The Pittsburg clinic will offer medication abortions for up to 11 weeks of pregnancy, and surgical abortions for 14-15 weeks of pregnancy. But, there will be a delay before the clinic offers surgical care. “We have excellent trained staff to offer this care,” said Planned Parenthood Great Plains president and CEO Emily Wales. “But we also know it’s a transition for the community and for us to launch a new center here, so it’ll probably be a little bit of time before we’re offering procedural care.”

Key Data on Abortion Access:

• Increase in Kansas abortions (2023): 369%
• Out-of-state patients in Kansas: 69%
• Out-of-state patients (Wichita Trust Women Clinic): 81%
• Pregnancy awareness (intended): 5.2 weeks
• Pregnancy awareness (unintended): 7.2 weeks

Community and Political Context

Wales also said there was a need for the services Planned Parenthood offers — which go beyond abortion care — in southeast Kansas. Logan Rink, a Pittsburg native and the health care manager of the Pittsburg clinic, said she has heard positive feedback from the community. She said Planned Parenthood will meet needs that weren’t being met, and that the community views it as a great resource.

While more than 60% of Crawford County voters in 2020 supported Donald Trump, they voted against the proposed constitutional amendment that would have removed the right to terminate a pregnancy in Kansas. Wales said Planned Parenthood typically sees protests when it opens a new location, but they “die down after a while.” Members of Lighthouse church, a nondenominational anti-abortion Christian church in Pittsburg spoke in opposition of the clinic at the May 28 city commission meeting. “I know this is a major issue in our culture, abortion, but the reality is there’s no safe abortions because you start out with two lives and you end with one life,” said Pittsburg resident Shawn Osbeen.