(Developing: Will be updated as warranted)
Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed a bill that establishes new reporting requirements about women seeking abortions, calling the legislation “invasive” and “unnecessary.”
The bill would require abortion clinics to ask women to pick one of 11 reasons why they are seeking the procedure.
The bill requires women to be asked – they don’t have to answer – whether having a baby would interfere with their education, employment or career.
Other questions include whether the woman’s husband or partner wants the patient to have an abortion and whether the husband or partner is abusive.
They also would be asked whether the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest and whether the patient had enough or too many children.
“Kansans spoke loud and clear in August 2022,” Kelly said, alluding to the vote on the failed constitutional amendment that would have removed the right to an abortion from the state constitution.
“Voters do not want politicians getting between doctors and their patient by interfering in private medical decisions,” Kelly said.
“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,” she said,
The Senate approved the bill on a 27-13 vote, giving the legislation a slim supermajority to override any veto from the governor.
The House approved the bill on an 81-39 vote with three Republicans absent and not voting.
Supporters of the bill said it was necessary because it would help lawmakers
find ways to support pregnant women and understand how abortion is affecting them.
They said the data is needed to develop policies and programs that address the needs of pregnant women in Kansas.
They said the questions weren’t outside the type of question that could be asked during a routine doctor’s visit.
“Voluntary and anonymous data collection that even the Guttmacher Institute says can help ‘inform public debate and policy’ should not be suppressed by the governor and her irrational fears of offending the for-profit pro-abortion lobby,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins said.
“As Kansas continues to see record numbers of abortions performed, House Republicans are committed to overriding the Governor’s veto to ensure KDHE is adequately equipped with relevant and up-to-date information.”
Opponents of the bill said it singled out women for intrusive questions that aren’t asked of men seeking health care.
They say the bill is fueled by an “anti-abortion stigma” and a desire to “harass, intimidate, and shame health care providers and patients in Kansas.”
Opponents said the bill runs counter to the August 2022 election where voters overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have removed the right to an abortion from the state constitution.
Planned Parenthood said the bill interferes with the provider-patient relationship and presents “serious and problematic barriers to open and truthful conversations about care.”
The groups said the bill would violate patient privacy, inflict undue emotional distress and encroach upon personal health care decisions.
The bill also would require the report that the state issues each year documenting the number of abortions performed in Kansas to now come out twice a year.
The bill requires the report to be issued within 30 days of the reporting period, an attempt to address frustrations that a report that was once issued in March and April every year has been coming out later and later.
The bill also requires that information obtained by the state under the bill be confidential and not be disclosed in a manner that would reveal anyone’s identity who’s licensed to practice medicine and submits the report to the state.
