Kansas OB-GYN Prasanth Reddy, a Republican, seeks to strip away patients’ rights. Learn how his stance could impact women’s healthcare in the state.

I will never forget where I was on June 24, 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the fateful Dobbs decision, overturning Roe v. Wade. At the maternal fetal medicine office in Kansas City where I practice as a high-risk OB-GYN, we watched as emails flooded our inboxes, detailing how the hospital would cope with the severe new restrictions on our practice and patients.

Since that day, I’ve had to change how I counsel patients experiencing dangerous pregnancy complications, balancing my Hippocratic Oath, federal regulations on emergency care and Missouri’s new total abortion ban. One wrong move could cost me my medical license, send me to federal prison and end my career. This reality has made me incredibly cautious in what I say to patients and how I document it. It’s also pushed me to dive headfirst into understanding how our national and state legislatures function — and into fighting extreme policies that limit abortion access.

While observing the Kansas Legislature during the 2023-2024 session, it became clear that, despite Kansas voters emphatically supporting the right to make our own health care decisions — including the choice to end a pregnancy when needed — politicians at the state level continue to push for additional restrictions on reproductive medicine.

We’ll have to address this in November, when every state senator and representative is up for election. But perhaps even more important, we face a crucial choice at the national level in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. Our U.S. representative must faithfully represent Kansans, including our majority belief that medical decisions should remain among providers and patients, free from political interference. With Prasanth Reddy running for that seat, he’s proven he would disregard the will of Kansans.