Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback proudly proclaimed his state’s dedication to protecting lives from abortion during a pro-life rally Monday at the state Capitol, The Topeka Capital-Journal reports.
Kansas, recently named the second most pro-life state in the nation by Americans United for Life, passed several pro-life bills recently to protect unborn babies, including a ban on brutal dismemberment abortions and a measure to defund the abortion giant Planned Parenthood of taxpayer funding.
Brownback embraced the title with pride and vowed that Kansans would continue to work hard to protect all human lives from abortion.
“Kansas is the leading pro-life state in America, and we will stay that way,” Brownback said.
The Rally for Life, held annually near the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, had special significance this year. The Kansas Supreme Court currently is considering a legal challenge to the state law that protects unborn babies from brutal dismemberment abortions.
Brownback and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer urged pro-lifers at the rally to pray for the court justices as they prepare to make a decision about the law. The local newspaper estimated the crowd on Monday to be about 1,000 people.
“It has been my great honor as governor, working with this legislative leadership and others, to sign 17 pro-life bills for the state of Kansas,” Brownback said. “That doesn’t just happen. It’s years of toil. It’s years of prayer.”
“All of that though now is in jeopardy as the Kansas Supreme Court determines the right to abort a child is somehow to be found in the rights listed in the Kansas Constitution. Yet, this can never really be true that an abortion is a right. Our rights come from God and amongst them is the inherent right to life — not the right to destroy it.”
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The state Supreme Court recently scheduled oral arguments on the case for March 16, according to Kansans for Life. The pro-life organization said a lot is at stake in the decision.
“The legal matter is not whether the state legislature’s dismemberment ban was justified, but on the argument that abortion advocates will likely win at trial, when they can assert a Court ratified state right to abortion as fundamental to women’s liberty interest,” according to the organization’s blog.
Kathy Ostrowski, legislative director for Kansans for Life, previously wrote more about the case at LifeNews:
Pro-life Gov. Sam Brownback signed SB 95, the dismemberment method ban, on April 7, 2015 after it passed 31-9 in the Senate and 98-26 in the House. The law is not in effect.
The Overland Park Center for Women’s Health (CWH), the office of father -daughter abortion duo, Herb Hodes and Traci Nauser, filed suit against the ban in federal court and won a temporary injunction from Shawnee District Court Judge Larry Hendricks June 25, 2015. Judge Hendricks adopted the arguments of the abortion attorneys hook, line and sinker.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt filed an appeal of that ruling, claiming that it is “a fantasy” that the Kansas state constitution of 1859 protects a right to abortion (much less one that upholds gruesome dismemberment of living, well-formed unborn children!).
At the rally on Monday, Brownback and Colyer promised they will not give up the fight to protect unborn babies from abortion.
“Kansas has a long history of being the conscience of the United States,” Colyer said. “It’s very important to remind the world that we do believe in love. We do believe in respect. All of that means we respect life.”
