TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Senate will consider approving a new anti-abortion bill on Tuesday, which would define life at the moment of fertilization, which could happen soon after sexual intercourse — or could take up to two weeks. Some fear this could open the door to even stricter abortion laws in the state of Kansas.
There was heated debate on the Senate floor Monday as the Republican majority approved the bill for a final vote on Tuesday.
Besides defining life as occurring at fertilization, it would also end direct and indirect state funding, like tax breaks, to abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood. It would ban employers and health insurance companies from paying for abortions. And it would ban Planned Parenthood from providing materials on human sexuality to students in public schools, among other things.
Democrats want exceptions in the law to allow women who have been victims of rape or incest to be allowed to get mid-to-late term abortions, and they want to make sure birth control such as the morning after pill would not be banned under this proposal, but Republicans voted down their proposals.
In recent weeks, Arkansas and North Dakota passed stricter abortion laws, banning abortions whenever doctors can hear the first heart beat. And both states are preparing for an expensive legal battle to defend their new laws.
The Kansas bill is not as strict as the laws in Arkansas and North Dakota, but both the House and Governor Sam Brownback support it. If passed by the Senate on Tuesday, it would most likely become law, and then Kansas, too, would have to prepare for a costly legal battle as pro-choice supporters fight to overturn it.
