Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the landscape of abortion rights and access has shifted dramatically across the country. Nowhere is this upheaval more pronounced than in Kansas, where a surge in abortion procedures and a cascade of regulatory and economic changes are reshaping the lives of residents, healthcare providers, and investors alike.
According to The Heartlander, Kansas has experienced a near tripling of abortions since the state’s Supreme Court interpreted the state constitution as protecting abortion rights in 2019. The numbers are staggering: from 6,916 abortions in 2019 to 19,467 in 2023—a 58% increase from just the previous year. This surge has turned Kansas into what some describe as a Midwest hub for abortion services, with the number of known abortion facilities more than doubling from three to at least seven in just four years.
To bring these numbers into sharp relief, Kansans for Life is launching an unprecedented traveling exhibit, “AFTERMATH: Abortion in Kansas 2019-Present,” which will tour the state from September 13 to October 25, 2025. The free outdoor installation aims to confront visitors with the magnitude of recent changes, featuring 19,467 models of aborted babies—each calibrated to gestational age—set out on tables as a somber memorial and a call to action. The exhibit will stop in cities including Hutchinson, Hays, Colby, Garden City, Liberal, Dodge City, Atchison, Salina, Paola, Chanute, Basehor, and Arkansas City, making the issue visible in communities large and small.
“We want to engage the young people of Kansas in this fight,” one pro-life advocate told The Heartlander, emphasizing the event’s educational focus. The exhibit is designed for students in grade five and above, and local biology teachers are encouraged to bring their classes. Visitors are also invited to leave their reflections, both in person and online at AFTERMATHKS.com.
The backdrop for this dramatic increase is a series of legal decisions that have systematically dismantled abortion restrictions in Kansas. In 2019, the state’s Supreme Court ruled in Hodes & Nauser v. State of Kansas that the state constitution protects a woman’s right to choose abortion. Building on that, two major decisions in 2024 overturned a ban on dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortions and removed clinic regulations designed to ensure patient safety. According to Google AI, D&E is a procedure used in the second trimester, typically up to 24 weeks, involving the removal of the fetus using forceps and other instruments. In Kansas, D&E abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks’ gestation.
Meanwhile, the Kansas “Women’s Right to Know Act”—which mandates a 24-hour waiting period, informed consent about risks, disclosure of disciplinary actions against abortion providers, and expanded state statistics—is under legal challenge, with hearings scheduled this September in Johnson County. Abortion advocates are also seeking to relax requirements that only doctors perform abortions, especially for chemical or pill abortions, which now account for over 60% of all procedures in the state.
The regulatory environment has been shaped not only by court decisions but also by political battles. The failure of the “Value Them Both” constitutional amendment in 2022, which would have clarified the legislature’s authority to regulate abortion, has left Kansas with few guardrails. Out-of-state campaign contributions and heated rhetoric convinced many voters that the amendment would have drastically curtailed abortion access, though its actual impact would have been more limited. As a result, even the state’s ban on abortions after 22 weeks could face future challenges.
While Kansas moves toward greater access, other states have gone in the opposite direction. According to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 14 states have enacted total abortion bans since the Dobbs decision, leading to the closure of 66 clinics within 100 days. These closures have disproportionately affected marginalized communities, with Black and Latina women in restricted states experiencing a 2.3% increase in births and a 6% rise in infant mortality, as highlighted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
The economic impact of these shifting policies is profound, rippling far beyond the clinics themselves. The Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda, including the 2025 Federal Budget Reconciliation Law, has compounded financial strain on reproductive health providers. The law prohibits federal Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood and other safety-net clinics, threatening access for 1 million women who depend on Medicaid for contraceptive and preventive services. Medicaid funds 90% of family planning services nationwide, and these cuts could force closures or reductions in service, especially in rural areas. Federally Qualified Health Centers could see an 18.7% drop in revenue, mirroring a broader trend: in 2023, 45% of hospitals with high Medicaid shares operated at negative margins.
For investors, the reproductive health sector is a study in contrasts. Venture capital in women’s health startups reached $15.1 billion in 2023, driven by demand for telemedicine and contraceptive innovations, even as overall health tech funding declined by 27% from 2022 to 2023. Telehealth platforms offering medication abortion by mail have proliferated, though 12 states now ban telehealth for abortion, creating a patchwork of regulations and legal uncertainties. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act threatens to strip Medicaid funding from nonprofit reproductive health organizations, and Washington state’s Abortion Access Project has already seen a 50% funding cut, resulting in reduced clinic hours and delays in care.
The broader economic toll is significant. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimates that abortion bans in 17 states cost the U.S. economy $61 billion annually, largely due to reduced workforce participation among women of reproductive age. The 2025 Medicaid cuts are projected to reduce federal spending by $793 billion over a decade, potentially limiting access to prenatal and postpartum care and amplifying these losses.
Despite these challenges, some see opportunity amid the upheaval. Telehealth startups that can navigate complex legal landscapes, and companies investing in pregnancy support programs—such as Texas’s $70 million annual initiative—are well-positioned for growth. The reproductive health sector is projected to grow at a 2.9% compound annual rate through 2025, reaching $13.4 billion, though growth is expected to slow slightly and operational costs are rising. Impact investors are increasingly prioritizing reproductive health, seeing it as both a moral and strategic imperative.
Yet the future remains uncertain. Proposed policies like Project 2025 seek to revoke FDA approval for mifepristone and dismantle federal protections for abortion care, signaling that the regulatory landscape could shift again. For Kansas, the next chapter may hinge on court decisions, legislative battles, and the willingness of communities to confront the realities unfolding in their own backyards—one traveling exhibit at a time.
As Kansas stands at the crossroads of a national debate, the state’s experience offers a vivid window into the complex interplay of law, economics, and the deeply personal decisions at the heart of reproductive health.
