Pro-Life conscience protection headed to KS governor

Sen Garrett Love

The Healthcare Rights of Conscience Act, Hsub 62,  passed  the Kansas Senate tonight: 23 -16,with 1 absent, under the shepherding of Sen. Garrett Love (R-Montezuma). The bill had passed the House  on March 29 by a vote of 95-29, 1 absent, having been introduced in the House Judiciary committee by Rep. Lance Kinzer (R-Olathe), chairman.

The Healthcare Rights of Conscience Act updates 40-years-old state law protecting health professionals’ right to refuse participation in abortion and sterilization. Specifically, it  will:

• broaden the institutions covered to any medical facility, not just hospitals,
• widen the category of morally objectionable procedures to include drugs and devices that are reasonably believed to have abortion-causing effects; and
• protect against forced referrals for such procedures, drugs and devices.

This bill was needed because the definition of abortion covered by conscience protection, did not include drugs and devices provided to non-pregnant women, i.e. birth control. Yet the line is increasingly blurring between abortion drugs like RU486– intentionally given to cause abortion– and chemically-similar “contraceptive” drugs like ‘Ella’.  And the intense moral decision-making  falls on doctors and pharmacists who actually effectuate the termination of human life.

Medical professionals have the right to keep their first amendment freedom of religion, especially in a culture of death where med schools have largely abandoned the Hippocratic oath. This is an important step to prevent Kansas pro-life medical professionals from being run out of medicine.

Sen. Love ably defended the bill, refusing to get sidetracked from the main issue  by the usual confusing meanderings of pro-abortion

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Youngest-ever Senator inspires 3,000 at State Rally

The youthful “face” of the pro-life movement was on display at the annual Rally for Life Monday at the State capitol in Topeka, organized by Kansans for Life.  Not only was the crowd of approximately 3,000 filled with students, the keynote speaker was the youngest senator ever to serve in the Kansas senate, Sen. Garrett Love (R-Montezuma) –who turned 23 as he began his term last January.

Where did this young Senator get the passion to defend children in the womb? He pointed to the his “little brother” Austin, a 6’5″  local college basketball standout who stood on stage near the podium.  Sen. Love told the crowd, “When Austin was born, he fit in the palm of my Dad’s hand.  Was he fragile? Yes. Extremely.  The most defenseless among us? Yes.  And was he a life that was worth the effort of defending? Of course he was. For my family, that story and those difficult times surrounding Austin’s birth and who Austin is today are all great reminders at both how precious and awesome life is.”

Sen. Love continued, “Most concerning to me was when I learned that that during the time frame between 20-30 weeks gestation, we have more pain receptors per square inch on our body than at any other time in life and that is at the same time that our body’s system of pain suppression is not yet fully operating.  That time frame is when many abortions have been performed in Kansas and also the time frame when my brother was born…. That means babies, at a time that they feel more than at any other point in their life, which we have learned through scientific evidence, are going through the worst kind of pain and our state used to say that was okay.”

This is the kind of appealing advocacy Sen. Love articulated on the Senate floor last April, helping to send the Pain-capable Unborn Child Protection act to the desk of pro-life Governor Sam Brownback, and making Kansas the second state in the nation to secure such pro-life protection.

Sen. Love reminded rally attendants to continue to be the “voice for the voiceless” knowing that, in the words of Thomas Jefferson,“The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.”

Gov.Brownback also addressed the crowd, with rounds of applause for other pro-life elected officials in attendance: over 50 state legislators, as well as Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, and State Treasurer Ron Estes.

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Guest post: eye-opening view of Senate clinic bill vote

Today, a guest post from Pro-lifer Bill from Olathe:  “I had the pleasure of being in the Senate chamber today for the passage of H Sub SB 36, the Abortion Clinic Licensing Bill. It passed 24-15 and will almost certainly be signed into law by Gov. Brownback.  Some high points of this bill are:

• it requires clinics to meet minimum medical standards, like having doorways wide enough to fit a gurney through and keeping the surgical equipment from being stored amongst medical waste.
• it requires that injuries and deaths occurring during the act of abortion are reported.  As it stands, if a woman isn’t reported dead at the abortion clinic itself, then there is no requirement for the clinic to report the death. This makes tracking the number of abortion-related injuries and deaths rather dicey.
• it would ban the prescription of RU-486 via web cam. Honestly, I didn’t even know this was an option.  Any time I have a sinus infection, my doctor of 15 years requires I’m tested and checked out before prescribing the same antibiotic he prescribes every year.  I suppose abortionists are a little less concerned about the health of their patients.

This is a good bill, and a necessary one. Kudos to the right-thinking 24 senators. My beef is with the usual suspects who attempted to defeat

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KS Senate passes protections for teens & 20-week unborn

Both bills edit old statutes, replacing the term 'fetus' with Unborn Child.

The Kansas Senate today ushered in a new pro-life era by advancing two significant measures that Gov. Sam Brownback is anxious to sign into law.

The landmark Pain-capable Unborn Child Protection Act, HB 2218, and the  Abortion Reporting Accuracy and Parental Rights Act, HB 2035, each passed 24-15.  Both measures acquired minor amendments on the Senate floor and will require a quick assent  by the House, when it returns to work Monday.

UPDATE Mar. 29: House concurs on HB 2035 by100-22 and HB 2218 by 94-28.

Sen. Terry Bruce (R-Hutchinson) did a top notch job leading the defense of HB 2218 in floor debate,  citing

• the 1987 ground breaking evidence published in  the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine,
• a ‘litany’ of consistent scientific studies after that, and
• the 2004 U.S. Dept. of Justice testimony of top researchers.
  

Bruce added “the smartest man he knew, one of only ten neuro-radiologists in the country” supports the science of the bill that unborn children aged 20 weeks post-conception (22 weeks gestation) can acutely experience pain.

Speaking in support of HB 2218 were Senators Julia Lynn (R-Olathe), Ty Masterson (R-Andover) and Garrett Love (R-Garden City. Sen. Jeff King (R-Independence)

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