Democrat Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has vetoed a new informed consent bill that just passed the Kansas legislature and would require abortion facilities to inform women about the abortion pill reversal procedure, which has saved thousands of babies’ lives.
Under the pro-life legislation, abortion facilities and medical providers would be required to inform women taking the abortion pill of a treatment that can reverse the effects of the drug and potentially save their unborn baby’s life at least 24 hours prior to the abortion. Facilities that provide abortion drugs, including hospitals and pharmacies, also would be required to display a notice with information about the abortion pill reversal treatment and contact information for providers.
Kelly referred to the recent state referendum vote that was filled with millions in false television ads as the reason for her veto.
“In August, Kansans made clear that they believe personal healthcare decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor, not politicians in Topeka,” Kelly said in her veto message. “This bill would interfere with that relationship and, given the uncertain science behind it, could be harmful to Kansans’ health.”
Ironically, the bill would enhance health care but giving women additional medical options. Her veto would have the effect of denying women the ability to make personal healthcare decisions.
The legislature approved the bill on a wide majority — enough to override Kelly’s veto.
“With this veto, Governor Kelly has shown that she does not believe vulnerable women have the right to know all of their options,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, said in a statement.
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That statement sets up a likely veto override vote in the legislature.
Testifying in favor of the bill, Dr. Jonathan Scrafford, an OB-GYN in Wichita, said he has delivered babies whose lives were saved because of the treatment.
“Not only would a bill ensuring provision of information regarding abortion pill reversal help women in our communities to remain informed of their options, but it remains supported by the largest clinical trial performed to date …” Scrafford told the House Health and Human Services Committee earlier this spring.
He cited a recent study of more than 750 women that showed the progesterone-based treatment, a natural pregnancy hormone that the abortion pill blocks, saves babies’ lives and is safe for their mothers.
Several other doctors also submitted written testimonies to lawmakers emphasizing that women should be informed of the choice.
However, some Democrat lawmakers attacked the bill on the House floor, claiming Kansans oppose the informed consent legislation because they rejected a pro-life state constitutional amendment last summer.
According to the Reflector:
State Rep. Melissa Oropeza, a Kansas City Democrat, said Kansans had already made their wishes on reproductive rights clear by voting down a proposed abortion amendment.
“Aug. 2, 2022, the state of Kansas spoke loud and clear on how Kansans would like to keep health care decisions with the patient and their health care provider,” Oropeza said.
But Kansans also elected a pro-life Republican majority to the state legislature last fall. What’s more, ahead of the amendment, outside pro-abortion activists and dark money groups flooded the state with money and misleading information about the measure.
The abortion pill reversal bill has a good chance of passing the state legislature, but Gov. Laura Kelly, a pro-abortion Democrat, likely will veto the legislation.
Jeanne Gawdun, the director of government relations with Kansans for Life, said nearly 68 percent of abortions in Kansas are done with the abortion pill, or “medication” abortions.
“There is no acceptable reason that women who begin an abortion pill regimen and change their minds should be denied information about current protocols for abortion pill reversal,” she told lawmakers earlier this month. “HB 2439 was drafted to empower pregnant women with the knowledge of their true options concerning medication abortions.”
Across the world, the abortion pill reversal treatment has saved more than 4,000 babies’ lives so far.
The treatment works by counteracting the abortion drug mifepristone, the first of two drugs typically taken to abort and then expel the unborn baby. Mifepristone makes the uterus inhospitable to new life by blocking the hormone progesterone. The reversal procedure involves giving the mother doses of progesterone to counteract the abortion drug. The abortion pill reversal procedure does not work after the mother takes the second drug, misoprostol, one or two days later.
According to the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs, it works very similarly to a hormonal treatment that has been used for years to help prevent miscarriages.
Research indicates the treatment is safe and effective. One study found that nearly 70 percent of women who underwent the treatment were able to reverse the effects of the abortion drug and save their babies’ lives. The study did not find any increased risks of complications or birth defects.
Anyone who has taken the first abortion pill and wishes to stop the abortion is urged to immediately visit www.abortionpillreversal.com or call the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline at 877-558-0333.
