Kansas House OKs Pro-Life Bills Limiting Late-Term Abortions, Helping Women

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 3, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Kansas House OKs Pro-Life Bills Limiting Late-Term Abortions, Helping Women

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 3
, 2009

Topeka, KS (LifeNews.com) — The Kansas state House has approved two pro-life bills including one that would place more limits on late-term abortions and another providing women with more information to help them decide against an abortion. The second bill would allow a woman considering an abortion to see an ultrasound of her unborn baby.

The late-term abortion bill requires abortion practitioners to provide the state health department with detailed information about why the abortion was done.

The bill is needed because late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller has been accused of violating current laws and doing abortions for nonmedical reasons.

When used in pregnancy centers, ultrasounds persuade most women to keep their baby and Rep. Lance Kinzer hopes the same will happen in abortion facilities.

Kinzer introduced the legislation, billed as the “Woman’s Right to Know & See” proposal, in the Kansas state House along with 38 co-sponsors.

It says women must be given information about the ultrasound 24 hours prior to the abortion.

The bill also requires an abortion practitioner to provide the woman with a list of places where she can obtain a free ultrasound and that any ultrasound done at the abortion center must be completed 30 minutes prior to the abortion.

Kinzer, a Republican from Olathe, says the legislation “promotes a woman’s physical and psychological health and advances the state’s important and legitimate interest in protecting fetal life.”

The bill also requires abortion centers to post an “anti-coercion” sign making it clear that women do not have to have an abortion for which they do not consent. The sign is a response to research from the Elliot Institute showing anywhere from 40-60 percent of abortions are done on women who are pressured or coerced by a husband, boyfriend, or someone else.

“Every woman submitting to an abortion should only do so after giving her voluntary and well-informed consent,” Kinzer told the paper.

The bill enjoys the support of Kansans for Life and Kathy Ostrowski, the group’s legislative director, told LifeNews.com, "This bill will insure that women in abortion clinics are not denied the modern medical information other women receive in ordinary obstetric settings."

"Abortion is irreversible, with results that can produce a long-lasting, negative impact. Although abortion is an elective procedure, it is too often a coerced, rushed decision," she added.

Some 16 states have enacted similar ultrasound viewing legislation.

Related web sites:
Kansas Legislature – https://www.kslegislature.org
Kansans for Life – https://www.kfl.org

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