Lawmakers in Kansas are taking the first steps towards a pro-life constitutional amendment which would aid the pro-life legislative cause in the state.
The move comes after the state’s Supreme Court in April found that the state constitution had a constitutional “right” to abortion, overturning a law passed in 2015 that would have outlawed dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion otherwise known as dismemberment abortion. Dismemberment abortions are most common in the second trimester, and several states have sought to ban the procedure in recent years. During a D&E abortion procedure, the abortionist uses a clamp to rip the arms and legs off of the preborn child before crushing her skull, as explained by former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino in the video below:
“My feeling is the court has overstepped the will of the people,” said Sen. Julia Lynn of the Supreme Court’s ruling according to CJOnline. The 2015 dismemberment abortion ban overwhelmingly passed the legislature, including by a massive 31-9 margin in the state Senate.
Last week, a legislative committee listened to two days of hearings that are expected to lead to a recommendation to pass a constitutional amendment. Although the text of the amendment has yet to be written, the language would be drafted by pro-life legislators working with pro-life groups, according to Mary Kay Culp of Kansans for Life. The draft amendment would then go before the House and the Senate, where a two-thirds majority in both houses would need to endorse it before a referendum could be added to the ballot.
Culp said the constitutional amendment was the best hope for Kansas. “The people of Kansas have a remedy for the unfettered abortion on demand which the Supreme Court has foisted on the state, and this is to reverse the court’s ruling by a constitutional amendment,” she said. “We believe abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women.”
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The language of the amendment is not expected to ban abortion outright, but instead, it will likely return decisions about abortion back to the hands of the legislature. Since the Supreme Court ruling was based on the Kansas Bill of Rights rather than federal constitutional rights, Culp has said that a constitutional amendment is the only way forward.
Pro-abortion groups spoke out against the move, including a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood, Rachel Sweet.
If Kansas is successful changing its constitution, it will join Alabama and West Virginia as states with constitutional amendments not granting a right to abortion. Louisiana is considering one such constitutional amendment for next year.
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