Kansas Abortion Bill: Lawmakers Vote To Allow Medical Professionals To Refuse Information

The Republican-controlled Kansas House of Representatives this week passed legislation making it easier for doctors, nurses and pharmacists to deny abortion and sterilization coverage, including refusing to refer patients to a doctor who would treat them.

The bill, which could come up for a vote in the Senate just by one senator demanding it, extends the state's religious conscience law to allow medical professionals to not provide a referral. Services covered by the bill include abortion and sterilization.

"To give carte blanche because of their conscience not to refer to a doctor or pharmacist is unfair and dangerous," state Rep. Annie Kuetcher (D-Topeka) told HuffPost.

The bill also extends the law to any medical facility and would exempt doctors and pharmacists from civil liability if they declined to refer a patient to another provider. Under the terms of the bill, medical providers would not need to disclose publicly if they refuse to perform such services.

"This is a large rural state and in a lot of the towns you have only one doctor or pharmacist," state Rep. Sean Gatewood (D-Topeka) said. "This would require you to drive several counties a way. One doctor can have a massive effect."

Gatewood noted that the bill covers male sterilizations as well, which could make finding a doctor to perform a vasectomy more challenging. State Rep. Barbara Bollier (R-Mission Hills), a rare Republican opponent of the bill, said that some believe birth control pills are a form of abortion, which could lead to the pill possibly being prohibited by some pharmacists.

Opponents said unlike a similar bill passed this week in Missouri, emergency procedures are exempted. Under the Missouri bill, doctors would not be allowed to refuse to perform an emergency procedure. The Kansas bill does not have that provision.

"No, you can bleed to death, it is okay," Kuether said. "It is an ugly piece of legislation. I call it the war on women's health care. We are celebrating a 100 years of women voting in Kansas. I assume there are a lot of men in this chamber who would not want us here.

The bill's passage comes as legislators consider a sweeping 69-page anti-abortion bill, which includes provisions to allow doctors to deny information to women that could cause them to decide to have abortions and exempt the doctor from related medical malpractice suits. A wrongful death suit could be filed in the event the mother dies. The bill also includes the potential of placing a sales tax on abortion and could end tax credits for abortion-related services and insurance.

State Rep. Lance Kinzer (R-Olathe), the sponsor of both abortion bills, did not return a call left at his Topeka office. A Kinzer staffer previously told HuffPost that her boss rarely speaks to the press.

Under Kansas legislative rules, the refusal bill could come up for a Senate vote if just one senator demands it, bypassing committee hearings. The rule kicks in due to the parliamentary procedure House Republicans used to pass the bill. House opponents noted that moderate Senate Republicans have been trying to block abortion bills and this procedure would force a vote on a moment's notice.

Gov. Sam Brownback (R) has not indicated if he'll sign the bill, but opponents expect him to. Brownback told HuffPost in February that he's sticking to his 2010 campaign pledge to sign any pro-life bill that reaches his desk.

"He'll sign it with glee," Kuether said of Brownback. "There are people who say they want this to be the most pro-life state in the country."

Comments

[Loring Wells]

02:37 PM on 05/08/2012

I am so glad we still live in a country that supports FREEDOM OF CHOICE!!!!! (And that is sarcasm for those of you who think this is a good idea).

[nvrbl]

03:08 PM on 04/05/2012

This is in conflict with the Emergency Treatment and Active Labor Act, a federal law which requires hospitals to provide emergency medical care. That would make letting women die rather than give them an abortion against federal law. The Catholic hospitals get away with it anyway. If you are a pregnant woman experiencing complications or suspect an ectopic pregnancy, do NOT go to a Catholic hospital.

[denisemarie]

03:54 AM on 04/05/2012

And these people worry about "death panels". LOL!

[hoho5973]

03:32 PM on 04/02/2012

Nothing epitomizes the saying "its all about me", like abortion.................

[aliente]

03:45 AM on 04/03/2012

Indeed, I know when I had mine, it was totally self-indulgent. Making painful and emotional decisions regarding my body, well-being, and ultimately going through with a difficult choice and procedure was truly selfish.

Nothing says 'I'm an ignorant prick' like your post.

[hoho5973]

08:28 AM on 04/03/2012

sorry, I could've been more specific and limited it to simply those that have an abortion out of convenience instead of absolute medical necessity. I apologize from that angle.......

[marind]

10:42 AM on 04/02/2012

Hope a woman legislature introduces a bill allowing doctors not to tell any patient about any medical problems if they don't want to. For example, why should a Mormon doctor have to tell a man he needs a coronary by-pass when the doctor sincerely believes that the heart trouble was caused by smoking, caffeine and alcohol, of which the Mormon doctor disapproves?

[marind]

10:32 AM on 04/02/2012

Leave it to the GOP set people against one another. Under their image of the world, I couldn't even trust my doctor - the person who could be responsible for keeping me alive - to TELL ME THE TRUTH.

So how could you trust your doctor AT ALL?

This is exactly what totalitarian governments do - make people afraid to trust one another.

[Killermolls44]

01:58 AM on 04/02/2012

Really they want to deny sterilization coverage? Why are these people so obsessed with dictating peoples bodies....

[nothingchanges]

10:30 PM on 04/01/2012

Which party was it that brought us the concept of "Death Panels"?

I've always maintained that ACTIONS speak louder than words............more honestly as well.

Judge them by their actions, not their words, then VOTE in November.

If you don't..............who will?

[cookiecat]

10:08 PM on 04/01/2012

I am 56 yrs. old. I remember when Roe v. Wade was signed into law. I remember women marching for the ERA. Decades later, with the stroke of a pen by a governor, women's rights are dismantled. When the botched abortion deaths begin to pile up, will there be men wracked with guilt? Or will they be too busy finding another way to dehumanize women? I never thought this would happen and am afraid for my 19 yr. old daughter and her friends.

[Killermolls44]

02:00 AM on 04/02/2012

Never thought I'd have to deal with this. Yes I'm only 20 and never dealt with the struggles generations before me did.. but I honestly never thought this would happen in my life.

[marind]

10:36 AM on 04/02/2012

Please please please speak up, get onto the streets, MAKE LOUD LOUD NOISES!

You have your entire life ahead of you. Don't let these authoritarian misogynists destroy it! Please get out there and bring ALL of your friends, male and female.

Otherwise you can look forward to a life of serfdom and endless pregnancies to provide the war machine with cannon fodder.

At 65 I remember the battles for some semblance of equal rights for women. PLEASE DON'T LOOSE THEM!!!

[nvrbl]

02:56 PM on 04/05/2012

Make sure all of your friends are registered to vote . Take them down there if you have to! Remind them before election day to VOTE.

[Lori LyterGetz]

06:53 PM on 04/01/2012

I encourage any Kansas person who is against this bill...and the many others across the nation...to be in Topeka on 4/28! Make your voices heard, with the other women & men who support them across the country! This nation wide event, in every state capitol & DC will let the GOP know that WE WON'T TAKE ANY MORE! Please visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/300397393356744/ and find your state & sign up!

[RonH1]

11:21 AM on 04/01/2012

These are all great political strategy's for democrats. Democrats should fall on their knees and thank these right wing republican radicals. Any women that votes republican this November needs her head examined.

[michaelh71]

11:11 AM on 04/01/2012

Is this another one of those Republican jobs bills I have heard so much about?

[VoiceOfReality2012]

11:41 AM on 04/01/2012

"Mayby instead of caling you a kkk member I should of said you comment sounded racist instead."

Its ok. Most folks that have been here for understand what youre doing. You cant defend your made up argument so you simply start in with the personal attacks to draw attention away from that fact. Its pretty common here, actually.

[michaelh71]

02:32 PM on 04/01/2012

I have never been proven wrong on here. Where you on the other hand have been almost every time. Example you call President Obama a failure yet you don't want to give credit for the positive trend the country is on and deny we were on a negative trend under Bush.... So no I don't name call because I am proven wrong because I haven't been I name call when people ignore facts. It’s all about the facts.

[cookiecat]

10:09 PM on 04/01/2012

what???

[feelingdisposable]

11:04 AM on 04/01/2012

Apparently, Rep. Kinzer, the sponsor of these bills, is reluctant to talk about his bills outside of the legislature. That alone should put your radar on alert. He doesn't speak to the press, and probably doesn't talk to his constituents, either. He thinks he's in office to stay. He doesn't realize he serves at the voters request. I hope they collectively change their minds the next time he's up for election.

[toomchtodu]

02:19 PM on 04/05/2012

He speaks to no one. I've contacted his office on numerous occasions, only to receive the infamous auto reply, which hadn't been proofed or spell checked. He is obviously very satisfied with what he's done and refuses to acknowledge that this bill is not only bad, but endangers lives. As an embarrassed Kansan, I am constantly contacting our legislators and governor expressing concerns, displeasure, and anger about what is happening to our state. They seem to forget that "Bloody Kansas" was the beginning of the civil war and by not learning from history, it is quite possible their actions are perpetuating a civil war of another kind, but none the less bloody.

[BarryWolk]

10:38 AM on 04/01/2012

Dear Auntie Em

I've had it with you and your kansas legislature - so I'm leaving.

Signed,
Dorothy

PS: I'm taking the dog!

[BarryWolk]

10:35 AM on 04/01/2012

I have two words for you, Kansas...

Hippocratic Oath!

[Madim]

06:59 AM on 04/04/2012

Hypocrates wasn't a cleric (or God, or someone God is speaking to, or the Infallible Pope, Speaker for God, or anyone having something remotely to do with God) ergo his oath is irrelevant.

[nvrbl]

03:01 PM on 04/05/2012

It is a code of ethics for physicians that doesn't include letting women bleed to death from a miscarriage or die from an ectopic pregnancy because the pope thinks women should be sacraficed with their fetuses.