TOPEKA — Sen. Minority leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, vowed to vote out the Statehouse’s Republican supermajority in an emotion-filled speech hours before the Legislature made inroads into passing more anti-abortion laws.
“We’re going to knock on every damn door,” Sykes said, speaking to a crowd gathered around the rotunda Monday afternoon to rally for reproductive rights. “Let’s show the nation again that everything good that happens starts in Kansas, and we’re going to break this supermajority.”
Sykes referenced the state’s support of reproductive rights in 2022, when voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to ban abortion.
Since the end of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Kansas has become one of the few states left in the region that protects abortion rights, but as more travelers have come into the state to seek abortions, Republican lawmakers on the state level have attempted to chip away at these protections.
Sykes’ speech came a few hours after the House overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of an “abortions reasons” bill 84-41. House Bill 2749 requires medical care facilities and providers to report women’s reasons for their abortions. The Senate completed the veto override Monday night with a 27-10 vote.
Under HB2749, abortion seekers will have to answer a series of questions before undergoing the procedure, including questions asking them if they have been raped, if they have an abusive partner, and if the pregnancy is the result of incest. Reproductive rights advocates say the survey is overly intrusive and potentially traumatizing.
Kansas House leadership characterized the move as one that would help “serve vulnerable women,” in a joint statement released Monday.
“By overriding the governor’s veto of this bill, voluntary and anonymous abortion data will now be made available to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment so they can have up-to-date and relevant information,” the statement read. “The governor’s unreasonable fear of this data collection is nothing but a roadblock to helping serve these vulnerable women better.”
Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said the organization would be weighing options for litigation.
“From the provider perspective, there is no reason to ask invasive questions that have nothing to do with the quality of care,” Wales said. “This is about shame and stigma, it’s not about improving care, or tracking critical vital statistics. We’re thinking very closely about whether we should challenge the bill.”
The Legislature also successfully overrode Kelly’s veto of an “abortion coercion” bill known as House Bill 2436 by an 85-40 vote in the House and a 28-10 vote in the Senate.
The bill will create a new felony crime. People who try to force a woman to end a pregnancy despite her expressed desire to give birth could face jail time and thousands of dollars in fines. During initial discussion of the bill, lawmakers attempted to amend the bill to make any interference with reproductive autonomy, such as pressuring women into pregnancy, a crime as well, but lawmakers adopted a version of the bill without these provisions.
“I would hope that they really listen to the people,” Kelly said Monday of these override attempts, before final action on the legislation. “They made it pretty clear August of 2022 what they wanted. They want women’s reproductive rights to be protected and preserved. I’m hoping that they did that.”
Annie Stevens, a Lawrence resident who participated in the rally, called the legislation ridiculous.
“There was a bipartisan vote in 2022, and the fact that these legislators are d***ing around with this, they all need to go get vasectomies, ejaculate responsibly,” Stevens said. “Keep your hands out of our business, this is absurd. We’re not putting up with it in Kansas.”
