Women seeking abortions in Kansas now will be asked why they want the procedure.
The Republican-led state legislature on Monday overrode Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly's vetoes of two bills, one aimed at understanding the reasons for women obtaining an abortion and the other protecting women from being coerced into undergoing an abortion, the Washington Examiner reported.
The state Senate voted 27-10 and the House voted 84-41 to override Kelly's veto of a bill that asks women to disclose their reasoning for obtaining an abortion, The Kansas City Star reported.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) will ask women their reason for having an abortion from a set list, including financial stress, rape, fetal disabilities, or the health of the mother, the Examiner said. Patients can decline to answer.
KDHE will be required to produce two annual reports on the data obtained.
While 46 states require some form of mandatory abortion reporting data, only 16 other states ask about reasons why the patient is seeking an abortion.
Although Kansans in 2022 overwhelmingly voted down an amendment to the state's constitution that would have restricted or banned abortion, Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, said the legislature has and will continue to respect those parameters "until that can be changed sometime in the future."
"It's important for public policy officials who make health decisions every day to make informed decisions," Landwehr said, the Star reported. "In no way does the reporting in this bill restrict, prevent, or stop any woman from having an abortion."
Opponents of the new law say the procedure is unnecessary and invasive.
State lawmakers voted 28-10 in the Senate and 85-40 in the House to override Kelly's veto of a law that would make it a felony to coerce a woman into undergoing an abortion, the Star reported.
Coercion was defined as physical, legal, or financial threats to the mother's well-being, the withholding of legal documents, and controlling access to medical care.
Abortion in Kansas remains legal up to 20 weeks gestation.
According to 2023 data, the number of abortions in Kansas increased by about 150% since 2021, the Examiner reported.
Nearly 70% of more than 12,000 abortions in the state last year were performed on non-Kansas residents.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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