Understanding Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Abortion Services in Kansas and Missouri

If you find yourself pregnant and are looking for medical advice, a quick web search will likely produce a plethora of options. Some, like the Kansas City Women’s Clinic and Planned Parenthood Kansas City, are clinics that offer a full range of reproductive medical services. Others, however, are nonprofit resource centers focused on pregnancy counseling. They have names like Kansas City Pregnancy Clinic and Advice and Aid Pregnancy Centers.

What is a Crisis Pregnancy Center?

A crisis pregnancy center is an organization that offers advice and resources related to pregnancy, but does not recommend, refer or provide abortions. This can be confusing because some centers advertise services like “free abortion and abortion pill education.” The counseling provided encourages people to continue their pregnancies instead of getting abortions.

According to Missouri’s Department of Social Services, these centers “encourage women to carry their pregnancies to term by offering pregnancy testing and counseling with emotional and material support.” Some of these centers provide pregnancy tests and supplies for new parents, like diapers and baby clothes. They may require clients to attend classes or workshops in order to obtain these free items. These classes can include religious elements, as many centers are affiliated with religious groups.

Licensing and Regulation of Centers

Is a crisis pregnancy center a licensed and regulated medical facility? In most cases, no. Missouri’s definition of a “pregnancy resource center” does not require that it perform medical services or register with the state health department. Crisis pregnancy centers are not among the over 30 types of medical and health-related facilities that the state regulates with monitoring and inspections. Medical professionals who work at such centers must hold their own medical licenses, but the other employees and the centers themselves do not need licenses.

Available Resources in the Region

There are at least 76 crisis pregnancy centers in Missouri and at least 49 crisis pregnancy centers in the state of Kansas. Crisis pregnancy centers in the Kansas City area include:

• Resource Health (formerly known as Rachel House)
• Advice and Aid Pregnancy Centers
• Kansas City Pregnancy Clinic
• Parkville Women’s Clinic
• Birthright of Kansas City
• Liberty Women’s Clinic

Services offered by these facilities often include maternity clothing, baby items and referrals to financial and housing assistance. For instance, Liberty Women’s Clinic offers pregnancy testing, options counseling, limited obstetrical ultrasound, STI testing and treatment, and referrals to social, medical, adoption and other agencies.

Medical Abortion Clinics and Clinical Care

While Missouri has a ban on the procedure, abortion remains legal in Kansas. Specialized clinics offer the very best in medical care and are specialists in abortion care. For example, Aria Medical Clinic in Wichita offers abortion pills (medication abortion) through 12 weeks of pregnancy and low-cost ultrasounds. They provide financial assistance and various birth control methods.

Another option is Hope Clinic, which provides the entire range of abortion services up to 34 weeks of pregnancy. Their services include:

• Medication abortion (abortion pill) for patients under 10 weeks pregnant.
• Vacuum aspiration abortion for patients between 10 and 16 weeks of pregnancy.
• D&E (dilation and evacuation) for patients who are over 16 weeks and less than 26 weeks pregnant.

Comparison of Available Services

The following table summarizes the types of services available at different facility types in the region: