Gov. Kelly’s veto of anti-abortion bill upheld after final override effort fails

Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of anti-abortion legislation will stand, after a last-ditch effort to overturn her decision fell short.

A failed vote in the House on Thursday means legislation that would have required doctors to tell women that the abortion pill can be reversed won’t become law. Democrats and abortion-rights activists have called the practice scientifically unproven.

Kelly said the bill would have interfered with the doctor-patient relationship and would have forced doctors to follow a “government mandate not adequately supported by medical science.”

Bill supporters had said the proposal would have given women considering an abortion more information.

Lawmakers came close to overriding the veto on Wednesday, but fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed in the House. Supporters of the bill attempted a procedural maneuver Thursday to re-do the vote, but that, too, was short of the needed margin.

Anti-abortion lawmakers and activists had hoped at least one lawmaker would change their vote between Wednesday and Thursday. Much attention focused on Rep. Jan Kessinger, an Overland Park Republican who voted for the bill but against the veto override. In the end, Kessinger’s vote remained the same.

This story was originally published May 2, 2019 at 12:12 PM with the headline "Gov. Kelly’s veto of anti-abortion bill upheld after final override effort fails."