Kansas House Republicans on Friday promised to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill that would have required doctors to provide care for babies born alive after a failed abortion or face criminal prosecution.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said in a statement that he was saddened by the governor’s decision to veto the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.
“This is not only radical, but also inhumane and I am confident House Republicans will make every effort during veto session to protect all living, breathing infants in our state regardless of the conditions surrounding their birth.”
Kelly, a Democrat, vetoed the first pro-life bill to come to her desk, calling it “misleading and unnecessary.”
“The intent of this bill is to interfere in medical decisions that should remain between doctors and their patients,” she said.
Kansas does not currently apply criminal penalities to doctors if they don’t comply with existing federal law that requires them to provide care to infants born alive during a failed abortion. The vetoed bill would have established those criminal consequences. Doctors could face up to one year’s probation for first-time offenders.
The bill would have required health care providers to take the same measures to save the life of a newborn as any “reasonably diligent and conscientious” provider would with any other live birth. The law would have applied to all instances where a fetus is completely expelled or extracted from the mother, which includes induced labor abortions.
The GOP has a majority in both the House and the Senate of the state legislature. This means that if the support for the bill remains strong, Kelly’s veto could be overturned. The House voted 86–36 in favor of the bill, and the Senate voted 31–9 in favor of the bill.
‘Heartless’
In response to the governor’s veto, pro-life Kansas organization Kansas for Life stated that no baby born alive after an attempted abortion “should be left to die on a cold, steel table.”Danielle Underwood from Kansas for Life called on legislators to override the veto.
“These babies deserve protection and the same medical care as any other newborn of the same gestational age,” she added, criticizing the governor as out of touch with the values of the people of Kansas.
“We now call on all Kansans to urge their legislators to do the right thing and override Gov. Kelly’s heartless veto,” Underwood added.
However, overall, there were 5,377 fewer abortions on average each month during the same period.
The report explains that while some states saw a decrease, others experienced surges. In Kansas, abortion is generally prohibited at 22 weeks, and women seeking an abortion must undergo a 24-hour waiting period and counseling.
In addition, Kansas restricts both public funding and private insurance coverage for abortions, and minors seeking the procedure must obtain the consent of a parent, guardian, or judge.
After the Kansas Supreme Court protected abortion rights in the state in 2019, voters declined a ballot initiative last year aimed at confirming the absence of a constitutional right to abortion in the state, which implies that abortions are legal in the state under certain restrictions.
Kansas, along with most states, doesn’t collect data on births during induced abortion procedures.
