TOPEKA — Kansas House lawmakers overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes of two anti-abortion bills Thursday, sending the measures on to the Senate.
Kelly vetoed both bills Wednesday. The required two-thirds of the House members, who were all Republicans, voted to overturn them.
Wichita Republican Rep. Susan Humphries called on legislators to override House Bill 2062, which creates what pro-abortion critics call “fetal personhood” language within a bill that cements child support payments for mothers based on pregnancy costs before a baby is born. It would also add a personal income tax exemption for any unborn child.
“This bill is about being compassionate to pregnant women,” Humphries said.
Kansas Family Voice and the Kansas Catholic Conference were major proponents and architects of the bill. Nicholas Heald, an anti-abortion protester who regularly demonstrates outside of the House and Senate chambers, said following the House vote that Kansas law and human biology affirm that fetuses are people.
“We don’t throw fetus showers,” said Heald, a 39-year-old who traveled from Wichita to Topeka to demonstrate at the Statehouse nearly every Wednesday.
In a roughly 25-minute speech, Rep. Nikki McDonald, an Olathe Democrat, addressed how expensive pregnancies can be and proposed what she thought were more effective strategies to aid pregnant women, including a raised minimum wage and increased access to affordable health insurance. She said the state needed to avoid unnecessary litigation and regulation.
“If we were serious about ensuring the well-being of a pregnant person, we would be passing bills that expand health care access, make health care affordable, broaden our sex education programs to include more than just an abstinence-only sex ed approach,” she said.
Rep. Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat, challenged the bill’s constitutionality, arguing it violated the Kansas Constitution’s “two-subject rule,” which prohibits bills from legislating more than one topic. The two topics at hand were child support and tax breaks, she said.
Minutes after overriding HB 2062, House Republicans overrode Senate Substitute for House Bill 2382.
It mandates school districts show a video of a developing fetus to students at any grade level during any course that deals with human growth, development and sexuality. The video shown to students must be at least three minutes long, show the development of vital organs and be “a high-quality, computer-generated animation or high-definition ultrasound,” according to the bill.
The bill also allows Kansas State Board of Education members to set their own salaries. An earlier version of the bill set state board member compensation rates at $286.81 per meeting day, which was based on legislative salaries, but the passed bill didn’t designate any funds for raises.
Opponents criticized the measure for its lack of standards and for overriding local control.
Rep. Linda Featherston, an Overland Park Democrat, said she didn’t believe the bill was appropriate and the Legislature was “overstepping.”
“Actually, what really bothers me about this bill is that it interferes with parental rights,” Featherston said.
Parents ought to have the ability to determine when they want to talk to their children about sex, she said.
Republican leadership characterized fetal education as a “commonsense” measure, said House Speaker Dan Hawkins of Wichita and Senate President Ty Masterson of Andover in a joint statement.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
