Kansas Abortion Bill Opponents Prepare for Comeback
With the introduction of strict new anti-abortion bills nearing in Topeka, Kan., pro-abortion rights college students descended on the state capitol Monday to organize the opposition.
A group of 30 students from colleges across Kansas spent Monday lobbying both parties in an attempt to ward off what may three abortion laws, including a sweeping bill defeated last year that would allow doctors to withhold medical information from patients they believe may cause them to seek an abortion. In addition, legislators have been discussing the introduction of personhood and fetal heartbeat bills.
“Both contraception access for us and health care access” are salient issues for students and others who don’t have a lot of money, Emma Halling, a University of Kansas student who joined the group organized by Choice USA on Monday, told The Huffington Post. Halling said she and other students are waiting for reintroduction of last year’s bill that mobilized pro-abortion rights activists in the state. The bill, pushed by state Rep. Lance Kinzer (R-Olathe), included provisions to allow for doctors to withhold medical information, require doctors to inform women that abortions increase the risk for breast cancer, stop tax deductions for abortions, possibly impose a sales tax on abortion, ban state employees from performing abortions during the workday, and personhood. The bill would also prohibit women from filing malpractice suits against doctors who withhold information in the event that the woman had medical complications. A wrongful death suit could be filed if the woman dies.