Kansas Senate Moves Abortion-Related Legislation To Negotiating Committee

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 24 Mar 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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The Kansas Senate on Wednesday sent a bill (HB 2736) that includes a number of abortion-related provisions to a committee of negotiators from both the House and Senate, the AP/Hutchinson News reports. By sending the bill to the committee, the Senate avoided approving the House-passed version of the bill and sending it to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), who supports abortion rights (Hanna, AP/Hutchinson News, 3/20).

Under the House version of the bill, women seeking abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy would have to be given information about no-cost counseling and no-cost prenatal services. Women would be given the option to see an ultrasound image and to ask the physician about the procedure at least 30 minutes before the abortion is performed. The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts would be required to revoke the medical licenses of physicians who break the law, and the measure would allow a district or county attorney, as well as the attorney general, to prosecute violations.

The bill would allow a group of 10 or more Kansans to sue the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and force it to provide information required by law on abortions performed after the 21st week of pregnancy. The bill also would require doctors performing an abortion after the 21st week of pregnancy to give the woman copies of documents that state the reason for the abortion and whether it is required to prevent considerable and irreversible damage to a major bodily function. Under the law, minors seeking abortions would be required to provide identification and proof of state residency. The person accompanying the minor also would be required to provide identification, sign a statement about their relationship to the minor and identify the father of the fetus if possible. The bill also outlined the steps a minor must take to obtain a judicial waiver for an abortion.

In addition, the measure allows a woman who had an abortion after the 21st week of pregnancy and some members of her family to sue for monetary damages if a physician violates the law. The bill also would require clinics that provide abortions to post signs informing women that they cannot be forced into having the procedure (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 3/19).

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