(Developing: Will be updated as warranted)
Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning took steps to defend the Medicaid expansion bill Friday, saying abortion opponents are falsely claiming it would lead to taxpayer-funded abortions.
Denning said the Medicaid expansion legislation unequivocally does not cover pregnant women and as a result would not result in taxpayer-funded abortions.
“Pregnant women will remain covered as they are today, but under existing Medicaid and its match rate,” Denning said in an email sent to senators Friday morning.
“Expanding Medicaid will not increase the number of pregnant women covered by Medicaid,” he wrote.
“There have been inaccurate verbal and written statements made that abortions will somehow be paid for with the 10% state portion from expansion,” Denning wrote.
“Pregnant women are clearly excluded from the expanded population as they already receive special coverage under existing Medicaid,” he wrote.
Jeanne Gawdun, legislative director of Kansans for Life, disagreed with Denning’s conclusion.
She said women enrolled in the expanded Medicaid program might become pregnant and seek an abortion.
And while state law bars taxpayer-funded abortions, Gawdun fears the restriction could be struck down in the aftermath of the state Supreme Court decision.
“Sen. Denning conveniently neglected to mention in his email the Supreme Court” case, Gawdun said.
She said the ban on state taxpayer funded abortions is at risk following the Supreme Court case because it will be held to a higher legal standard.
“Can he guarantee that publicly-funded abortions in Kansas won’t increase under Medicaid expansion?” Gawdun asked. “He cannot prove that.”
Efforts to expand Medicaid in Kansas stalled after the Kansas House last week failed to pass a constitutional amendment reversing a state Supreme Court ruling that found the right to an abortion is protected in the state constitution.
Senate President Susan Wagle immediately vowed not to run Medicaid expansion, contending that it would free up state money that could be used for abortions.
Wagle, now running for the U.S. Senate, pressed the argument that expansion could lead to government-funded abortions.
While the federal government’s 90% portion of Medicaid expansion funding could not be used for abortion, Wagle suggested the state’s 10% share could.
“Without the ‘Value Them Both’ amendment, there will be no 90/10 funding match when it comes to abortion,” Wagle said in an email Monday. “Kansas taxpayers will instead foot the bill for all Medicaid abortions, in their entirety.”
Two leading groups advocating for the amendment — Kansans for Life and the Kansas Catholic Conference — have urged lawmakers not to vote on Medicaid expansion until the constitutional amendment on abortion is passed.
“Passing the Value Them Both Amendment to the Kansas Constitution is the only way to ensure expansion does not turn into a new public funding stream for the abortion industry,” Kansans for Life said in a statement last week.
In his email, Denning noted the difference in positions on Medicaid expansion between the Catholic bishops in Kansas and the archbishop of St. Louis.
Denning’s email included a letter from the archbishop showing his support for a ballot proposal expanding Medicaid in Missouri.
“Recently, questions, concerns and speculation have surfaced regarding an argument that the federal pro-life protections in Medicaid—secured through the Hyde Amendment more than 40 years ago—would be terminated, putting government funds at risk for allocation to abortions,” Robert J. Carlson wrote.
“We acknowledge this concern, however, with abiding trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot operate out of fear and speculation of the unknown. Our commitment to life is unwavering and lives are at stake,” he wrote.
Chuck Weber, executive director of the Catholic Conference, called Denning’s email “desperate” and “nothing short of inexcusable.”
“His attempt to conflate the public policy situation in Missouri with Kansas – including the remarkably deceptive statement by Missouri Bishops – is beyond the pale and misleading at best, Weber said.
Weber said Missouri is not in the same situation as Kansas where the courts have found a fundamental right to an abortion in the constitution.
“Missouri does not have such a decision threatening every single abortion regulation on its books, including funding restrictions and conscience protections,” Weber said.
Denning said the abortion opponents are not being honest about what the Medicaid expansion bill does.
“Weber and Gawdun need to get to the nearest confessional,” Denning said.
Denning’s email Friday came in response to one sent by Republican Sen. Gene Suellentrop on Wednesday.
Suellentrop, chair of the Senate health committee, said in his email that testimony from a Tuesday hearing indicated “there is absolutely a direct and gravely concerning link between the Value Them Both amendment and the expansion of Medicaid.”
Suellentrop came to his conclusion after hearing testimony from KFL, the Catholic Conference, the Family Policy Alliance of Kansas and pro-life attorney Paul Linton.
“Without the protection provided from state passage of the Value Them Both Constitutional Amendment, Kansans will be forced to fund abortions on this new population of able-bodied adults,” Suellentrop wrote Wednesday.
“It is critical that as a body, we continue to work with our colleagues in the House to ensure the Value Them Both Amendment appears on the August ballot and allows the people of Kansas to have a voice in this process.”
