Kansas abortion clinic files federal lawsuit to retain access to common abortion pill
A Kansas abortion clinic is suing the Food and Drug Administration in an effort to retain access to a common medication used in abortions.
The Trust Women Foundation, which operates abortion clinics in Oklahoma and Wichita, is one of three plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit in Virginia seeking to block restrictions on mifepristone ordered by a federal judge in Texas last month.
The Texas judge’s ruling that overturned the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in a medication abortion, is currently under a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. But Trust Women, alongside clinics in Virginia and Montana, is seeking a ruling blocking the FDA from altering access in the three states.
A judge in Washington State issued a similar ruling for 17 other states last month.
Rebecca Tong, co-executive director of Trust Women’s Wichita clinic, said the attacks on mifepristone were bad politics that would harm patients.
“The consequences of restricted access will be significant: our ability to meet the overwhelming demand for services will be challenged and patients will experience devastating wait times for appointments,” Tong said in a statement. “All people should have meaningful local access to the fullest range of medical care supported by science—their ability to access quality care should not depend on where they live but on the principles of good medicine.”
The lawsuit, which was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on Monday, explained that Trust Women had halted its plans to provide abortion via telemedicine because of ongoing litigation over mifepristone.
Last year, a Kansas court blocked enforcement of a Kansas law banning telemedicine abortion amid a lawsuit arguing the policy violates the state-level right to an abortion. Planned Parenthood began providing abortions via telemedicine in December.
The clinic, the suit said, provides medication abortions to patients up until the 11th week of their pregnancy.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year Kansas became a major access point for abortion in the Great Plains as severe restrictions on the procedure went into place in Oklahoma and Missouri.
Last year, Kansas voters overwhelmingly chose to retain a right to the procedure in the state constitution. But physical access to the procedure in Kansas remains geographically limited.
Kansas currently has five abortion clinics, two in Wichita and three in the Kansas City metro area. Residents in the western half of the state face long travel times to reach in-person appointments in northeast or south-central Kansas.
