The Kansas Legislature overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a bill requiring doctors to try to save babies born alive after botched abortions, one of three abortion-related bills that GOP lawmakers are seeking to enact over the Democratic governor’s opposition.
The House voted 87-37 and the Senate voted 31-9 to approve House Bill 2313, dubbed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, with two Senate Democrats and two House Democrats crossing party lines to override the veto.
“All infants in Kansas will now, by law, receive the same standard of care across the board no matter the intention or circumstances surrounding their birth,” said House Speaker Dan Hawkins in a joint statement with Republican leaders after the Wednesday vote.
The Republican-led legislature earlier this month overturned Ms. Kelly’s veto of a bill banning male-born athletes from female sports, and more overrides may be coming.
The Kansas House voted Wednesday to override vetoes of two other abortion-related bills, sending them to the Senate.
The first bill would require health care professionals to inform patients that abortion pills may be reversible. The second prevents abortion facilities from accessing liability insurance through a state fund.
Kansas requires a two-thirds vote of both chambers to overturn gubernatorial vetoes, meaning at least 84 votes in the House and 27 votes in the Senate.
Ms. Kelly vetoed the born-alive measure April 14, calling it “misleading and unnecessary.”
“Federal law already protects newborns, and the procedure being described in this bill does not exist in Kansas in the era of modern medicine,” she said. “The intent of this bill is to interfere in medical decisions that should remain between doctors and their patients.”
The measure, which takes effect in July, requires medical providers to exercise the “same degree of professional skill, care and diligence” in attempting to save babies born alive after failed abortions as they would any other infant.
Mr. Hawkins said that the “governor said in her statement that this does not happen. There are abortion survivors walking among us today that prove otherwise.”
A win for life! The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act is now law in Kansas
— Kansans for Life (@kansansforlife) April 26, 2023
Our statement here >>> https://t.co/Tz7iNiJXUg pic.twitter.com/t4DDlEn3Gb</ a>
Health care professionals that violate the law would be subject to felony penalties, but women undergoing the procedures would be exempt from prosecution.
The Kansas bill was one of two born-alive bills vetoed this year by Democratic governors. In Arizona, Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed similar legislation this month.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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