Kansas anti-abortion amendment advances in Legislature on anniversary of Roe v. Wade
An amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would empower lawmakers to impose new regulations on abortion was approved by the House on Friday, a significant step toward ultimately putting the measure before voters.
The amendment doesn’t ban abortion, but would overturn a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision that the state constitution grants women the right to the procedure. It would likely make it more difficult to challenge abortion restrictions in state courts.
The House approved the measure 86-33, clearing the two-thirds supermajority support necessary. If passed by the Senate, the amendment will appear on the 2022 primary election ballot.
The vote came on the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established a right to abortion nationwide.
The House fell short of passing the amendment in 2019. But its prospects improved this year after more conservatives were elected in 2020.
“The folks of Kansas had another opportunity to speak with how they cast their ballots, they brought 86 Republicans to the House floor that wanted to see that from the voters,” said Speaker of the House, Ron Ryckman, an Olathe Republican.
“We knew how important this issue was to the folks in Kansas and their votes on election day prove it.”
Lawmakers approved the amendment on Friday despite efforts to move the election date to November. Opponents of the resolution said placement on the primary ballot was intended to ensure that a smaller but more supportive group of voters turned out.
“Putting this constitutional amendment on the August ballot will absolutely deny the rights of ALL Kansans to voice their opinion,” House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, said. “This is purely a political maneuver by Republicans to refuse women their rights to make their own decisions.”
An amendment to create exceptions for victims of rape and incest and instances where a mothers life is at risk was also rejected.
In a statement Friday, Gov. Laura Kelly voiced her belief that women should be free to make their own reproductive decisions and said passage of the amendment would damage Kansas’s reputation and economic prospects.
“We already know how this ends – North Carolina’s notorious bathroom bill cost that state nearly $4 billion in economic development – and this amendment has the same potential to do irreparable damage to our COVID-19 economic recovery efforts and our long-term prospects to recruit businesses and workforce talent,” Kelly said.
Proponents of the amendment such as Kansans for Life and the Family Policy Alliance, have said that the amendment is intended to protect existing “safeguards” on abortion such as a requirement for parental consent and a 24-hour waiting period.
The amendment — titled by supporters “Value Them Both” to signal concern for both the mother and her unborn child —would, however, open the door to more stringent restrictions on abortion, including an outright ban on the procedure if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade. Abortion rights activists have said any “medically necessary” regulations on abortion are still allowed under Kansas law.
Rep. Tory Arnberger, a Great Bend Republican, warned that without the amendment the state supreme court could overturn decades worth of regulations on abortion.
“We need to protect all the hard work that has been done by previous legislatures to empower women,” Arnberger said. “Value Them Both lets the people continue to regulate abortion through their elected officials.”
Rep. Lindsay Vaughn, an Overland Park Democrat, countered that the amendment put the state on a “dark path” which discriminates against women.
“Women will be forced to put their lives at risk in order to access reproductive healthcare,” Vaughn said.
The amendment would add Kansas to a small list of states with constitutions that exclude the right to abortion. Abortion opponents modeled the resolution off an amendment passed in Tennessee in 2014.
Since it’s passage, the Tennessee legislature has passed a ban on abortion after the 6th week of pregnancy. That measure was blocked by a federal judge.
Julie Burkhart CEO of Trust Women which runs a Wichita clinic that provides abortion said such bans are certain to arrive in Kansas if the amendment is passed.
“What we find is that when people are denied access to healthcare services, whether it’s abortion or not, healthcare outcomes are not as great, people are not as healthy,” Burkhart said.
In a written statement, Friday, Burkhart said that if the amendment passes it will “signal the end of reproductive freedom in Kansas.”
Jeanne Gawdun, Director of Government relations with Kansans for Life, said the bill would not constitute a ban on abortion.
“Kansans are compassionate people and do not want our state to be a destination for unlimited abortion,” Gawdun said.
This story was originally published January 22, 2021 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Kansas anti-abortion amendment advances in Legislature on anniversary of Roe v. Wade."
