KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Planned Parenthood Great Plains says a ruling on abortion pill Mifepristone from a federal judge in Texas could have far-reaching effects in Kansas.
The Sunflower State has become an island of abortion care surrounded by states with bans.
"It chips away yet again at my bodily autonomy," said Megan McQuinn, a Kansas advocate for abortion rights.
"It chips away at my ability to do what I want to do with my body."
McQuinn has been following the Texas case every step of the way.
"The fear what would happen is exactly what happened," she said. "The fear that this Texas judge, singular Texas judge, would decide that the FDA did
not know what they were doing."
Advocates for the ruling argue the case, which could strip FDA approval of the drug, is about women's safety.
They say the medication abortion drug, Mifepristone, needed to go.
CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Emily Wales doesn't agree.
"Mifepristone has been used for medication abortion, has been approved by the FDA for more than 20 year," Wales said. "It has been highly regulated, in many ways more regulated than non-abortion drugs
“It’s safety record really speaks for itself, so to have a judge take this step and really throw care across the country into chaos is deeply problematic," she said.
The removal of the drug would chip away at an already narrow and winding path to abortion many women walk.
"We're absolutely scared about what could come next and really just the unknown of whenever one rogue judge could interfere with medical care," Wales said.
If access to Mifepristone does get cut off, the FDA could move to re-approve the medication, but that process could take years.
