Gov. Laura Kelly vetoes first abortion bill since Kansas voters rejected Value Them Both

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the first abortion-related bill presented to her since Aug. 2, when Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed anti-abortion constitutional amendment.

The Democratic governor's veto of House Bill 2313 sends the so-called "born alive" legislation back to a Republican-led Legislature that has enough votes for an override.

“This bill is misleading and unnecessary," Kelly said in the veto message. "Federal law already protects newborns, and the procedure being described in this bill does not exist in Kansas in the era of modern medicine. The intent of this bill is to interfere in medical decisions that should remain between doctors and their patients."

The bill passed the House 86-36 and the Senate 31-9 as a handful of Democrats joined Republicans in supporting a priority of Kansans for Life. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, and Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, expressed confidence that their chambers will override the veto.

The legislation would require that medical providers perform life-saving care in the event of a live birth following an abortion. Kansas law already bans abortions after 22 weeks with exceptions for when the health of the mother is at risk or the pregnancy isn't viable due to a fetal abnormality.

Supporters argue the bill is necessary to ensure a baby who could potentially survive an abortion receives medical care.

More: Months after Value Them Both failed, Kansas March for Life unveils new anti-abortion slogan

Hawkins said in a statement he is saddened that Kelly "has chosen to abandon the dignity of life by allowing for the ending of an infant’s life even once it’s outside the womb."

"This veto gives abortionists free reign to walk away as a living, breathing baby dies," Hawkins said. "This is not only radical, but also inhumane."

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment doesn't have data on any babies being born alive in Kansas after an abortion attempt.

Opponents of the bill argue such a scenario does not happen, and the bill could result in a newborn who has no chance of survival being deprived of spending its short life outside the womb with its mother, instead being put on life-support.

“There is no circumstance in which an abortion is performed in Kansas where an infant can be born alive," Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, said in a statement. "It simply does not happen. The reality is that this legislation would harm mothers and health care teams who will be forced by statute to attempt care that will not change a tragic outcome, rather than provide families the dignity to grieve in peace."

More: Kansas lawmakers send first abortion-related bill to governor since Aug. 2 election

Kansas Republicans push anti-abortion bills after Value Them Both fails

Kansans for Life communications director Danielle Underwood said in a statement that Kelly is "out of touch" with the values of Kansans.

"Legislators from both sides of the aisle stood together to state the simple fact that babies born alive after an attempted abortion should not be left to die on a cold, steel, table," Underwood said. "These babies deserve protection and the same medical care as any other newborn of the same gestational age."

The abortion bill was the first to pass the Legislature and the first to be vetoed since Kansas voters rejected the so-called Value Them Both amendment in August and since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.

More: Kansas voters rejected Value Them Both. Republicans’ answer? Redefine ‘abortion.’

More: Taxpayer funding would boost anti-abortion counseling and ads under Kansans for Life plan

Republicans lawmakers have pushed to redefine abortion in the wake of the vote, as well as further address telemedicine abortion and the controversial concept of abortion pill reversal. Meanwhile, they have also sought to strip state liability insurance from abortion clinics. Anti-abortion counseling centers are in line for increased taxpayer funding while their donors could get tax credits.

Last month, interim President Heather Williams, of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told reporters that part of its 2024 electoral strategy for the Kansas House and Kansas Senate will be to focus on abortion rights.

"Voters have made their voices clear on that," Williams said. "Republicans seem to just be flat out ignoring it. And so we anticipate continuing to have really strong, robust conversations about what it means to have rights taken away and what it means to move the needle on giving people the access to reproductive rights that they deserve."

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Laura Kelly vetoes 'born alive' abortion bill from Kansans for Life