<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582813176978.jpeg" alt=" Mifepristone, commonly called the abortion pill, is the most common form of abortion in Kansas. Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption> Mifepristone, commonly called the abortion pill, is the most common form of abortion in Kansas. Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/kansas-records-show-4-medicaid-abortions-7-years#stream/0">Kansas News Service</a>TOPEKA — Republican legislative leaders blocking a push to give Medicaid coverage to about <a href="https://www.khi.org/policy/article/20-05" target="_blank">130,000 more Kansans</a>
 say they fear the expansion’s impact on publicly funded abortions. 
Other Republicans and Democrats reject that argument as a red herring.The
 Kansas News Service has learned that Medicaid has paid for a total of 
four abortions in the state between Jan. 1, 2013, and this month.The number of Medicaid-funded abortions was obtained through a data request to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.Medicaid
 in Kansas (also called KanCare) covered one abortion in 2014 and three 
in 2018. Public spending totaled $1,030 for the four procedures 
combined. Of that, $454 came from the state of Kansas.The 
federal Medicaid program relies on a mix of state and federal money. 
Federal law prohibits Medicaid spending on abortions with three 
exceptions: If the woman was a victim of rape, a victim of incest, or 
the pregnancy could kill the mother.That threat to the woman’s 
life can happen, for example, when a fertilized egg lodges in a 
fallopian tube instead of in the uterus. Such pregnancies fail and, if 
untreated, <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ectopic-pregnancy/symptoms-causes/syc-20372088?page=0&amp;citems=10" target="_blank">the Mayo Clinic says</a>, put the mother at risk of bleeding to death.<a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-159" target="_blank">Twenty-one states</a>
 ⁠— but not Kansas ⁠— go beyond what federal law allows by using their 
own state dollars for women on the insurance program to get abortions in
 various situations beyond rape, incest, or life endangerment.<a href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/statute/065_000_0000_chapter/065_067_0000_article/065_067_0033_section/065_067_0033_k/" target="_blank">Kansas law</a> prevents that by banning state spending on abortions “except to the extent required by federal law.”The specter of Medicaid-funded abortion has been a hot topic in the Legislature in recent weeks.Republican
 legislative leaders say they won’t allow a vote to expand Medicaid — 
one likely to pass — until lawmakers grant their request to hold a 
referendum on inserting anti-abortion language into the state 
constitution.The proposed constitutional amendment says <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/kansas-lawmakers-want-block-right-abortion-changing-state-constitution#stream/0" target="_blank">abortion isn’t constitutionally protected</a>
 and that the Kansas Legislature can regulate it even in cases where 
women were victims of rape or incest or when their lives are at stake.The
 referendum would take place during the August primaries, but it can’t 
proceed without two-thirds majorities in both the state House and 
Senate. It has the Senate’s support, but it fell <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/four-kansas-republicans-stopped-their-partys-anti-abortion-bill-gop-says-its-not-over#stream/0" target="_blank">four votes short</a> in the House.Thirty-six states and Washington D.C. have <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/" target="_blank">expanded Medicaid</a> coverage to more low-income adults. Kansas lawmakers have passed Medicaid expansion before, but then-<a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/brownback-veto-sets-medicaid-expansion-battle-legislature#stream/0" target="_blank">Gov. Sam Brownback</a> vetoed it. Last year, it cleared the House and appeared to have enough support in the Senate, but conservatives blocked a vote.Holding
 up Medicaid expansion this year has split key anti-abortion voices over
 whether to link the vote on health insurance to abortion.The 
state’s four Catholic bishops employ a lobbyist in Topeka who has said 
their stance is to stop Medicaid expansion until the Legislature sends 
the abortion question to a public vote.But this week <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/news/20200225/kansas-nuns-urge-legislature-to-pass-medicaid-expansion" target="_blank">the Topeka Capital-Journal</a>
 reported that scores of Catholic nuns across the state are petitioning 
lawmakers to proceed with ensuring more Kansans can afford health care.The
 Legislature’s conservative leadership is likewise divided. Senate 
President Susan Wagle is blocking the Medicaid expansion vote. She and 
anti-abortion lobbyists say they are doing so to block Medicaid-funded 
abortion. Senate Republican leader Jim Denning says the issues aren’t 
linked, and that expansion <a href="https://apnews.com/afedd4204be5dad7ce78607bb1939e0e" target="_blank">wouldn’t make</a> abortion funding more available than it already is.Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/Celia_LJ" target="_blank">@celialj_LJ</a>
 or email her at celia@kcur.org. The Kansas News Service is a
 collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public
 Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their 
connection to public policy.

Kansas records show 4 Medicaid abortions In 7 years