Laura Kelly vetoes another anti-abortion bill with Kansas Republicans poised for overrides

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a second piece of anti-abortion legislation on Wednesday, sending another bill back to a Republican-controlled Legislature poised to override her action eight months after voters resoundingly rejected an anti-abortion constitutional amendment.

"In August, Kansans made clear that they believe personal healthcare decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor, not politicians in Topeka," Kelly said in her veto message. "This bill would interfere with that relationship and, given the uncertain science behind it, could be harmful to Kansans’ health."

The central part of House Bill 2264 is the medially disputed concept of "abortion pill reversal."

"With this veto, Governor Kelly has shown that she does not believe vulnerable women have the right toknow all of their options," House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, said in a statement.

Providers would be required to notify medication abortion patients of the claim that it may be possible to reverse the effects of the mifepristone by not taking the prescribed misoprostol and then taking progesterone. Failure to do so could result in $10,000 fines for clinics, a civil cause of action and misdemeanor or felony criminal charges.

"This bill attempts to undermine Kansans’ right to bodily autonomy by willfully forcing blatant misinformation into a healthcare environment," Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, said in a statement. "This is an attempt to sway a woman away from making the decision that the people of Kansas resoundingly said she has a right to make on her own."

Kansans for Life spokesperson Danielle Underwood disagreed, saying in a statement that women would be empowered with the information about a protocol that can save babies.

"Why is Governor Kelly so afraid of trusting women with this information?" she said. "We call upon legislators to truly reflect Kansas values and override this ideologically driven veto."

The bill would also redefine abortion in response to opposition rhetoric during the failed Value Them Both campaign. The proposal would codify that ectopic pregnancy treatment and any method of contraception are not considered abortions.

The bill is part of a broader set of anti-abortion legislation this session following the June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and the August primary, where voters resoundingly rejected the proposed constitutional amendment. It would have effectively undone a Kansas Supreme Court decision protecting abortion access while giving the Legislature greater authority to regulate or ban the procedure.

Republicans poised to override abortion bill vetoes

The news comes after Kelly vetoed so-called "born alive" legislation last week. Supporters say that bill is necessary to ensure medical care is rendered to a baby born alive following an abortion, but opponents say such a situation does not happen in Kansas. They argue the bill will mean babies with terminal fetal abnormalities will be put in intensive care instead of spending their short lives with their mothers.

That bill, House Bill 2313, had veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate with support from a handful of Democrats. Republican leaders have vowed to override.

Overriding the veto of HB 2264 would be more difficult, but the GOP has a path to the required two-thirds majorities. Supporters were short of a supermajority by four votes in the House and by one vote in the Senate, but absent Republican legislators could make up the difference.

Meanwhile, Kelly could add a third veto to the list of abortion bills Republicans try to override during veto session.

House Bill 2325, which is on Kelly's desk, would block abortion clinics from a state liability insurance fund while allowing maternity centers to access such coverage. That bill had supermajority support in the Senate but was shy one vote in the House.

Republican lawmakers could see additional vetoes coming their way on proposals to increase public and private funding of anti-abortion counseling centers, which supporters refer to as crisis pregnancy centers or pregnancy resource centers.

The budget is also on Kelly's desk — for which she can use a line-item veto — and has a provision increasing taxpayer funding through a grant program that assists mothers during and after a pregnancy. Another provision provides funding for a new program to subsidize the counseling centers and advertise their anti-abortion message.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are set to take up a tax bundle that includes an income tax credit for donations to anti-abortion centers. It passed the House without a veto-proof majority on the last day of regular session, but was not taken up by the Senate before the chamber abruptly adjourned in the wee hours of Good Friday.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Gov. Laura Kelly vetoes anti-abortion bills from Kansas Republicans