Two years ago, Kansas voters demonstrated their commitment to abortion rights.
Even though voters decisively rejected a constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to ban abortion, Republican lawmakers continue to chip away at abortion rights in the state.
The Kansas Supreme Court protects abortion rights
In April 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the Kansas Constitution protects the right to an abortion.
The court found the right to an abortion is implicitly protected by the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights, which states, “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
The Legislature tries to amend the Constitution
Lawmakers and activists who oppose abortion rights attempted to amend the Kansas Constitution to overturn the Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling that protected abortion rights.
Amending the Kansas Constitution requires support from two-thirds of both the Kansas House and Kansas Senate, and a majority of voters.
In Jan. 2021, both the Kansas House and Kansas Senate approved a constitutional amendment that states the Kansas Constitution does not create or secure a right to abortion.
In the Kansas Legislature, Republicans generally support efforts to limit abortion rights, and Democrats generally oppose efforts to limit abortion rights.
In the Kansas House, 86 representatives voted for the amendment.
A total of 38 voted against.
The amendment cleared the house with two more votes than it needed to pass.
All 86 representatives who voted for the amendment were Republicans.
All 38 representatives who voted against the amendment were Democrats.
One Representative, Virgil Weigel, a Democrat, was absent for the vote.
In the Kansas Senate, 28 voted in favor of the amendment, and 11 voted against.
The amendment received one more vote than it needed to pass the Senate.
All 28 Senators who voted for the amendment were Republicans, and all 11 Senators who voted against the amendment were Democrats.
Bud Estes, a Republican, was absent for the vote.
After clearing the Kansas Legislature, the public would decide whether to approve the amendment and add it to the Kansas Constitution.
A Consequential Election
The stakes of the vote were raised in June 2022, when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and in so doing, ended the federal constitutional right to abortion.
Under Roe v. Wade, an abortion ban in Kansas would be struck down by federal courts.
Without it, only the Kansas Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Kansas Constitution prevented the Kansas Legislature from banning abortion in the state.
And the proposed amendment would overturn the Kansas Supreme Court by declaring the Kansas Constitution does not protect abortion rights.
Supporters referred to the amendment as the “Value Them Both” amendment, claiming the amendment expressed Kansans’ support for both women and children.
If the amendment had been approved, it would have given the Kansas Legislature the legal authority to approve a highly restrictive abortion ban.
In June 2022, A regional director of the Value Them Both Coalition told a meeting of Reno County Republicans that pro-life lawmakers were ready to ban abortion in Kansas if voters approved the amendment.
The official specifically referenced a proposed bill that would ban abortion from fertilization through birth. The bill contained exceptions for miscarriages, stillbirths, and ectopic pregnancies, but not for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
Legislatures in Missouri and Oklahoma had already approved highly restrictive abortion bans, neither of which contain exceptions for rape or incest, prior to the Kansas vote regarding abortion rights.
In the August 2022 primary election, Kansas voters decisively rejected the amendment, 59% to 41%.
The election was the first time voters in the US demonstrated their support for abortion rights after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Since then, US elections where abortion rights are directly on the ballot, and races between candidates where abortion rights are at stake, have regularly resulted in wins for abortion rights, including in red states, like Kansas.
I find it telling that more than 2/3 of the Kansas Legislature voted in favor of the anti-abortion constitutional amendment, which almost 60% of voters rejected.
To me, that’s clearly a sign that the legislature is considerably more conservative on key issues than Kansas voters.
But Kansas Republican lawmakers have continued to chip away at abortion rights, despite the clear message Kansas voters delivered two years ago.
Abortion Questionnaire
This year, the Kansas Legislature approved a law that requires abortion providers to ask patients why they are seeking an abortion.
Options to the multiple choice question include: having a baby would interfere with the patient’s education, employment, or career; the patient cannot provide for the child; the patient has enough, or too many, children; the patient’s husband or partner is abusive to such patient or such patient’s children; the pregnancy is the result of rape; the pregnancy is the result of incest; the pregnancy threatens the patient’s physical health; the pregnancy threatens the patient’s mental or emotional health; or the child would have a disability.
Patients could choose to decline to answer the question.
Providers are required to submit the answers of patients to the Kansas state government along with the patient’s age, marital status, the state where they live, their race and if they’re Hispanic, highest level of education, whether the patient reported experiencing domestic violence in the last 12 months, and whether the patient is living in a place they consider to be safe, stable, and affordable.
The names of the patients who receive abortions will not be shared with the state.
That’s a hell of a lot of personal information to collect from someone seeking to access a legal but politically-controversial medical procedure.
Gov. Laura Kelly (D) vetoed the bill, which she described as invasive and unnecessary.
“Kansans spoke loud and clear in August 2022. Voters do not want politicians getting between doctors and their patient by interfering in private medical decisions,” Kelly said in her veto message.
“There is no valid medical reason to force a woman to disclose to the legislature if they have been a victim of abuse, rape, or incest prior to obtaining an abortion. There is also no valid reason to force a woman to disclose to the legislature why she is seeking an abortion,” Kelly added.
The Kansas Legislature successfully overrode Kelly’s veto of the bill, and thus passed the bill into law.
In both houses of the legislature, the bill received the exact number of votes needed to override Kelly’s veto.
The Senate voted 27 to 10 to override the veto.
All 27 votes in favor of the bill came from Republicans. All 10 votes against the bill came from Democrats.
Two Republicans, John Doll and Carolyn McGinn, and one Democrat, Cindy Holscher, were absent for the vote.
The House voted 84 to 41 to override the veto.
83 Republicans and 1 Democrat, Marvin Robinson, voted in favor of the bill.
39 Democrats and 2 Republicans, David Younger and Mark Schreiber, voted against the bill.
Abortion Coercion
This year, the Kansas Legislature passed a law that creates a new felony crime related to abortion.
Under the law, someone who tries to force a woman to end a pregnancy, despite her expressed desire to give birth, could face jail time and thousands of dollars in fines.
During initial debate on the bill, lawmakers attempted to amend the bill to make any interference with reproductive autonomy, such as pressuring a woman into pregnancy, a crime as well, but the legislature adopted a version of the bill without these provisions.
Gov. Kelly (D) vetoed the bill, which she said could intrude on private and difficult conversations.
“While I agree that no one should be coerced into undergoing a medical procedure against their will, it is already a crime to threaten violence against another individual,” Kelly wrote in her veto message.
“Additionally, I am concerned with the vague language in this bill and its potential to intrude upon private, often difficult, conversations between a person and their family, friends, and health care providers. This overly broad language risks criminalizing Kansans who are being confided in by their loved ones or simply sharing their expertise as a health care provider,” Kelly added.
The Kansas Legislature voted to override Kelly’s veto, passing the bill into law.
The Senate voted for the bill 28 to 10.
All 28 Senators who voted for the bill were Republicans, and all 10 who voted against the bill were Democrats.
John Doll (R) and Cindy Holscher (D) were absent for the vote.
The bill received one more vote than it needed to become law.
The House voted for the bill 85 to 40.
84 Republicans and 1 Democrat, Marvin Robinson, voted for the bill.
39 Democrats and 1 Republican, David Younger, voted against the bill.
The bill received one more vote than it needed to become law.
Once again, the bill was passed into law over Kelly’s veto by narrow margins.
The stakes for abortion rights
Kansas Republicans are unable to ban abortion outright.
So instead, they try to find ways to chip away at abortion rights at the edges in the same way Republicans did nationwide under Roe v. Wade.
Voters can protect abortion rights in Kansas by ending the Republican supermajority in the Kansas Legislature, which would make it harder for Republicans to override vetoes from Laura Kelly, a governor who supports abortion rights.
Democrats only need to win two more seats in the Kansas House to break the Republican supermajority in the chamber.
If you would like to donate to Kansas Democrats running to break the Republican supermajority, you can do so through a fundraising form I created for ActBlue.
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