Late-term abortion reporting bill heads to KS Governor

For the fifth year in a row, the governor’s desk will be hit with a mandate for KDHE (the health department) to obey the abortion reporting law.   HB 2115 passed in the Senate 24-15 and in the House by a vote of 83-36.

Given the fact that similar measures to fix KDHE reporting were vetoed by Gov. Sebelius, every year from 2006 through 2009, HB 2115 may also be vetoed by Gov. Parkinson.

Pro-choice senators who registered their annual complaint about “misuse of legislative process,” couldn’t care less about the nearly 3000 babies wrongfully and criminally terminated through the “misuse of the abortion reporting process.”

In 1998, Kansas passed a law protecting viable unborn children from being aborted in the second half of pregnancy.  The only legal exceptions are for pregnancies that endanger the mother’s life  and those that 2 physicians agree would damage the mother substantially and irreversibly.

• Any abortion done as an exception to the law was to have been recorded with a maternal medical reason to KDHE.
• For over 12 years, KDHE processed 2,945 viable abortions (see chart), without any semblance of a medical reason.
• At an average cost of $5000 each–  these fraudulently documented abortions yielded $15 million!

During special House & Senate joint hearings

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KS abortion stats affected by centers, new law, closed clinic

Today, the KDHE health statistics division released its 2009 preliminary abortion report showing a reduction in total abortions : 9,472– down 11% from 10,642 in 2008.   We believe at least three factors are reflected in these stats:

• 7 months of a closed clinic (George Tiller’s, after his May 31 murder);
• 76 no-cost statewide pregnancy centers, with 19 offering free sonogram services and a Wichita perinatal hospice center;
• new provisions of the 2009 Woman’s Right to Know and See Act, including the mom’s right to an ultrasound viewing before submitting to abortion.

Tiller’s former clinic did a full range of abortions, which can account for the lower abortion numbers in all categories.  His clinic did the vast majority, if not all, of the post 21-week abortions, which, as a category, went from 323 performed in 2008 to 121 in 2009.

Of those 121 abortions, 110 were obtained by out of state women, with 66 of those abortions eliminating viable unborn children, whom even the abortionist himself determined and reported as viable. Once again, not one viable child was aborted to save the mother’s life– which has been the case in Kansas since 1998 when reporting became required.

[Click HERE for Kansans for Life 12-year compilation of Kansas abortion statistics using official KDHE health statistic reports from 1998-2009.]

PREGNANCY HELP CENTERS
Last year approximately 32,000 Kansas women contacted their local pregnancy assistance center, that’s nearly 7 times the number of Kansas females who obtained abortions–4,778.

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Will limited mobility dictate limited life, under Obamacare?

Joni Eareckson Tada

Pro-life Kansans cringe at seeing former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ smiling image, rejoicing at the new legislation signed Tuesday.  They are not alone in fearing her interpretation– as HHS head– of new health mandates.

Someone with similar fears is Joni Eareckson Tada, possibly the most admired and respected Christian female activist today, and a quadriplegic for the past 43 years.  Writing just prior to adoption of Obamacare, Tada warns about impending denied care for

“the infant who is developing inside its mother’s womb, and who at just a few weeks’ gestation already has more mobility than I do… and those whose disabilities keep them bedridden or unable to communicate.”

“If decisions are made by government-created Comparative Effectiveness Research boards, decisions on who gets treatment (and who doesn’t) could mean life or death for many …and could

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Closing KS infamous “mental-health” abortion loophole

Abortionist Kris Neuhaus testified at Tiller's trial that she approved "mental health" post-viability abortions by phone

Kansans for Life congratulates Rep. Steve Huebert (R-Valley Center) on winning first round approval Monday of a ban on abortions done for “mental health” of the mother when the unborn child is viable.  UPDATE: In final action, HB 2166 passed by a veto- proof  vote of 89-33.

The first publicized flouting of the Kansas ban on viable abortions happened just weeks after the law went into effect in 1998.  The case involved a Michigan 12-year-old, then within the year, an Arizona 14-year-old, both taken to Tiller’s Wichita clinic.

State reports showed all gruesome late-term partial-birth abortions were done for the mother’s mental health! State reports annually failed to indicate imminent maternal death or physical medical conditions that would justify the destruction of babies able to live outside their mother at the time of the abortion.

The KFL-initiated 2008 citizen grand jury in Wichita saw redacted abortion files that indicated illegalities, compatible with what psychiatric expert, Dr. Paul McHugh, discovered:  phony ‘mental health reasons’ made repeatedly by the same financially dependent doctor, Kris Neuhaus.

At Tiller’s March 2009 criminal trial, Neuhaus was forced

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Kansas pro-life Democrats must not imitate Stupak

With the House passage of the health care bill last night, and notwithstanding the worthless executive order, the United States is now dedicated to more abortions– and tax funding of them– under President Obama.  Read an outstanding piece on how abortion is killing the Democratic party.

Thousands of prohibited abortions occurred in Kansas under the Sebelius administration, which would not enforce the will of the people as expressed in the  protective informed consent law passed in 1997 and the late-term ban of 1998.

What self-described pro-life Kansas Democrats MUST do is support all of the sensible legislative proposals headed their way today, and for the rest of the session:

• Support HB 2166 with the Kinzer technical amendment only. This bill, from Rep. Steve Huebert,was held over from last session and will close the mental health loophole for post-viability abortions.
  UPDATE March 23: Passed House 89-33.
• Reform KDHE loopholes in late-term abortion reporting and allow civil lawsuits for victims of illegal late-term abortions.  Support the conference committee report for HB 2115, as it was worded March 18.
  UPDATE March 30: Passed Senate 24-15 and House 83-36, headed for Gov. Parkinson’s desk.
• Remove automatic insurance coverage of elective abortions by private insurers.  Allow the De Graaf amendment to attach to the appropriate insurance bill (like SB 388) without poisoning the bill with other mandates.
  UPDATE March 24: SB 388 (+DeGraaf) passed the House 93-29.
  
• Support defunding Planned Parenthood from the state budget.

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KS fraudulent late-term abortion reporting under review

Thursday, a House / Senate conference committee reviewed HB 2115, a bill that aims to end fraudulent Kansas late-term abortion reporting.  It was forged from SB 218, which Sebelius vetoed as she left to head HHS.)

This issue is not going away, even with Tiller’s infamous clinic closed since June, because his ex-staff doctors still possess Kansas medical licenses while doing late abortions in Nebraska and New Mexico.  It is imperative to close the reporting fraud that keeps Kansas open to resume late-term abortions.

It’s amazing how uninformed and cold-hearted legislators still are on this issue, despite three years of hearings revealing the dangers of these 3-4 day procedures. Doctors explained how the  “mental health” excuse is invalid as a reason to do a post-viability abortion.

Perhaps as distressing, is the attitude and blatant errors

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Campaign bills threaten free speech protection

Campaign regulation bills are flying in the Kansas Statehouse from the governmental ethics office, the  gay lobby and Kansas A.G. Steve Six.   All would impinge on 1st amendment protected free speech and some would even silence KFL during the critical election seasons.

We defeated (at least temporarily) SB 456, are concerned about SB 563 (placing judges under campaign law) and strongly oppose HB 2082 (formerly SB 418) which has been whisked through committee and awaits a Senate vote. UPDATE: March 23: The Senate debated new 2079 (old SB 563) and failed to attach HB 2082 to it, by a vote of 18-21. HB 2079 is on hold.

HB 2082 violates Court rulings that separate direct electioneering from unregulated free speech during the election season.

“Issue advocacy” is what policy groups do to educate the public without advocating the specific election or defeat of those candidates.   This includes, but is not limited to, comprehensive voting guides, candidate forums and newsletters discussing legislative actions.

Such “issue advocacy” does not function as an ‘in-kind’ political donation and need not be regulated. The government is not

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