Kansas Senators renewed a debate Monday over legislation to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, advancing the bill to a final vote despite pushback over what some considered discriminatory policy.
The “Value Them Both” amendment would pave the way to a complete ban of abortion in Kansas despite language implying otherwise, panelists said Saturday. If the majority votes “yes” in August, legislators could ban abortions even in cases of rape, incest, and risk of death.
Douglas County Democrats
The Douglas County Democratic Party is holding an event this weekend to help inform the public about how to protect the right to an abortion in Kansas.
Support for Senate Bill 484 is fueled by faith-based anti-LGBTQ interests who package the proposal as a necessary protection for girls against a hypothetical threat. The proposed legislation would ban transgender girls from participating in school activities with other girls, or transgender boys from playing with other boys.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said during a meet and greet with voters Monday in Harper County that he believes “Kansas elections are solid” and that he has “never seen the evidence” of widespread institutional problems here.
Nearly every state senator has signed on to a bill establishing a permanent memorial commemorating the Kansas suffragist movement in the state Capitol.
A federal court on Friday struck down parts of a new Kansas law that criminalized the distribution of advance mail ballot applications.
The House rejected an amendment to ban no-knock warrants on an 84-35 vote after hearing from several lawmakers with law enforcement experience.
The Kansas Secretary of State’s office and voting rights advocates are urging Senate lawmakers to reject a bill banning the use of drop boxes for advance ballots except under certain conditions.
In more than nine years serving as election commissioner for Sedgwick County, Tabitha Lehman said, she saw several instances of policymakers acknowledging election policies they support could suppress the vote of some marginalized Kansans to benefit their party.
