Kansas Abortion Bill: Legislature Passes One Bill, Others Aimed At Limiting Abortions In The State Possible

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has said that he will sign a sweeping 69-page anti-abortion bill.

Kansas lawmakers are gearing up for a possible fight over an abortion bill Friday, two days after the state Senate passed a bill allowing health-care professionals to withhold drugs and treatment that could cause an abortion.

The GOP-controlled state Senate passed a bill Wednesday that allows doctors and pharmacists to refuse patients medication that could cause an abortion, if they have a religious objection. The measure, which now goes to Gov. Sam Brownback (R) for his consideration, is one of several anti-abortion bills pending in the Kansas legislature; the state's sweeping 69-page anti-abortion bill is expected to come up for a vote Friday in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

"I'm trying to prepare for that," state Rep. Barbara Bollier (R-Mission Hills) said about the anti-abortion bill.

Bollier, a retired physician and pro-choice Republican, said Topeka has been rife with rumors that Republican leaders intend to bring the legislation to the floor Friday for a vote. She said it could be a smaller bill or portions of the larger bill, though. House Speaker Mike O'Neal (R-Hutchison) could not be reached for comment Friday.

The anti-abortion bill includes several provisions aimed at limiting abortions in the state. These include allowing doctors to withhold medical information from women if it might cause them to have an abortion and protecting medical professionals from facing malpractice claims in the event of health complications for the mother or child. A wrongful death suit could be filed in the event of a woman's death.

Other provisions include mandating that doctors tell women that abortion causes breast cancer, and allowing them to tell patients that life begins at conception. Under the measure, state employees would be prohibited from performing abortions during the workday; a sales tax would be charged on abortions and the state would issue written brochures to women with a list of legislature-approved health complications of abortion.

The bill could also jeopardize the University of Kansas Medical Center's OB-GYN residency program's accreditation.

"There are so many pieces to this bill, I don't know where to begin," Bollier said. "One of my greatest concerns is personhood."

Bollier, a rare Republican opponent of the measure, said she is prepared to fight the bill on the House floor or offer several amendments to water it down. She said among these are amendments requiring that the state abortion brochures are balanced with information about the health effects of pregnancy.

Opponents of the bill, led by Rep. Sean Gatewood (D-Topeka), have been meeting for weeks to discuss floor strategy. Brownback has indicated that he'll sign the law, telling HuffPost in February he is not backing away from a 2010 campaign pledge to sign all anti-abortion legislation that reached his desk. Brownback said at the time that he had not read the 69-page bill.

While the Kansas Senate is controlled by moderate Republicans, who are battling with conservatives for control of the Senate, Bollier said passage of the prescription bill is not a surprise. She said the August Republican primaries between conservatives and moderates could have played a role.

"When it comes to abortion legislation, the definition of moderate does not extend into that realm," she said. "Especially in an election year, once it comes up, it will pass."

Senate President Steve Morris (R-Hugoton) was not available for comment. Opponents have expressed concerns that the bill could place women's lives in jeopardy.

Democrats are calling on O'Neal to prevent the bill from reaching the floor Friday, noting that it is not a concern to state residents.

"It doesn't take a genius to know that the people are tired of hearing about abortion," Rep. Mike Slattery (D-Mission Hills) said. "I bet only 5 percent of the state wakes up thinking about abortion and most of those are legislators. Most people are far more interested in jobs and the economy."

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[dbackl]

06:28 PM on 06/14/2012

Once upon a time Republican stood for small govenment and reduced legislative restrictions on liberties - Roe v Wade was a good decision becasue it protects a women's dignity - just the opposite of these anti-abortion initatives.

To freedom and dignity for women - whatever that means to you, may it not be inflicted on others, aganist their will.

[GDWhiteman]

08:37 AM on 05/21/2012

I sometimes wish the all the religious people who claim abortion is a sin would recognize that, in the one direction mention of abortion in the Bible, God is said to order that women be taken to their church and given an abortion by their pastor.

[point2make]

12:06 PM on 05/19/2012

Here's an update on how much this is costing Kansans.
http://www.kwch.com/sns-ap-ks--abortionlawsuits-costs,0,6515909.story

[oldwhitefemdem]

12:15 PM on 05/04/2012

One southern legislator - a woman - offered a bill that stated that it was a crime against humanity for a 'man to spill his seed if it weren't for the direct purpose of impregnation.' Many of the men were OUTRAGED. OUTRAGED I SAID. They said no one had the right to tell them what they could do with their own bodies. No irony. No self-awareness. Threaten a man's option of masturbation or sex without fertility and they are AFFRONTED. But nothing wrong with denying women birth control or abortions. These men think it's swell to ban abortions - even ones that are caused by a brother raping his sister. Well, I see the logic. Perfectly reasonalbe, right? No contradiction here.

[Imprimis12]

09:19 PM on 05/07/2012

Back it up!

[ens2k]

02:43 PM on 05/08/2012

http://current.com/shows/countdown/videos/oklahoma-state-sen-constance-johnson-fights-personhood-bill-with-satiric-amendment

or Google Constance Johnson and personhood. Seems like you shouldn't be throwing around words like "uninformed" and "ignorant."

[oldwhitefemdem]

12:04 PM on 05/04/2012

'Other provisions include mandating that doctors tell women that abortion causes breast cancer, and allowing them to tell patients that life begins at conception. Under the measure, state employees would be prohibited from performing abortions during the workday; a sales tax would be charged on abortions and the state would issue written brochures to women with a list of legislature-approved health complications of abortion.'

I understand the theoretical excuses for most of these positions, even the lies. But how, on god's green earth is a woman protected from her own selfish, uninformed and ignorant self by prohibiting the performance of an abortion during the work day? Maybe only moonlight is appropriate for abortions. But then, what would they do on a cloudy night? I'm soooo confused, but I'm just one of those selfish, uninformed, ignorant women.

[Imprimis12]

09:24 PM on 05/07/2012

oldwhitefeminist, probably the only truth that came out of your mouth tonight your confused,selfish,uninformed and ignorant. lol

[htimsr40]

08:49 AM on 05/04/2012

Yet another "small government conservative" effort to impose draconian Big Brother rules on the medical profession. They lack the courage to take on the health lobby over things that matter ... like the ridiculous inflation that has occurred in getting basic health care ... but they can micromanage specific medical conditions based on their own wacky view of morality.

[apiazza]

08:47 AM on 05/04/2012

"Brownback said at the time that he had not read the 69-page bill."

Where is the conservative outrage? Where is Fox News? Oh wait, it's one of their guys so the double standard applies.

[alsothewolf2]

08:31 AM on 05/04/2012

Arizona is trying to pass a similar law........the Dr. doesn't have to tell a pegnant women she has an illness that will kill her if it means the treatment will harm the fetus............AND after the women has the baby and finds out the information was withheld from her, she can't sue the DOCTOR..............Yea, there's no war on women........

[PostCrispy]

08:10 AM on 05/04/2012

Fighting the war against women one state at a time.

[still working]

08:32 AM on 05/04/2012

thats nice, have a doctor lie to you, wow, sometimes i'm embarced to be called a kansan. bet brookback is getting primed for a bigger house ( white )

[blueplano]

08:58 AM on 05/04/2012

That will never happen.

[Madtek]

07:47 AM on 05/04/2012

If one is that frickin religious they shouldn't be a doctor or pharmacist, they should be a preacher! The religious people don't need dr's or medicine...they can just pray to take the ill away!!

[djaikins]

07:45 AM on 05/04/2012

I spent a week in Kansas one night.

[oldwhitefemdem]

12:08 PM on 05/04/2012

really old joke, but still funny.

[DudeDad]

07:43 AM on 05/04/2012

These GOP folks are so opposed to sex generally....yet they spend a great deal of time in women's vaginas....

[Imprimis12]

09:36 PM on 05/07/2012

Nothing compared to the abortionist! They are ones spending a great deal of time DESTROYING LIFE in the mothers womb.

[GDWhiteman]

08:32 AM on 05/21/2012

Whereas you prefer the fetus to be born and then abandon it?

[reviewingthesituation]

07:37 AM on 05/04/2012

What if I believe Viagra acts against the will of god because impotence is clear evidence that god wants a man to stop having sex?

Does the pharmacist get to quiz a woman about why she's taking the birth control pill? (Which the embryo-fixated pelvic police believe is an abortifacient)? That will make for some interesting eavesdropping in the pharmacy line.

Do women in Kansas have no self-respect whatsoever? First, the Pelvic Police patrols were saying they were just opposed to FREE birth control, not birth control in general (which people with more than an eighth-grade education always knew was disingenuous). Now, it's apparent that birth control is whatever your pharmacist or his assistant wants to believe it is.

Romney says he has no objections to birth control. Will someone please pin him down on the specifics?

[RadicalAmerica]

04:33 AM on 05/04/2012

For these whackos, life must begin at erection. Not every sperm is sacred. Sometimes it just winds up on the floor.

[Sheri Rose]

07:56 PM on 05/04/2012

/dont we wish It did

[Velocity88]

02:55 AM on 05/04/2012

What if it's a drug used to terminate pregnancy because the life of the mother is in jeopardy, like methotrexate?

[alsothewolf2]

08:28 AM on 05/04/2012

The Mother has no meaning to these people, she is to die with the child.........that is the word of the Lord.......according to these Nuts..........

[Velocity88]

08:39 AM on 05/04/2012

Sad, but very true.