Republican lawmakers in Kansas say they overrode Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto on a bill that protects crisis pregnancy centers late last week because they want to preserve life. Democratic opponents who were against the override, meanwhile, say the bill further erodes abortion access in the state.
Crisis pregnancy centers, also known as pregnancy resource centers, counsel women against abortion. The bill shields them from regulations requiring them to provide information about abortions, procedures or medication, or abortion referrals or counseling.
Republican state Sen. Mike Thompson, one of 30 senators who voted to override the veto, says the bill will protect life.
“Basically, all it does is it ensures that the more than 50 pregnancy centers serving women and families across Kansas cannot be targeted or forced by government officials to act against their beliefs,” he said in a Senate proceeding Friday.
The bill creates the Pregnancy Center Autonomy and Rights Expression Act, or CARE Act. It also allows crisis pregnancy centers to sue people or government entities who violate it, and allows appointed legislators to intervene in any court proceedings.
Passage of the bill was one of Kansans For Life’s top legislative priorities this year. The organization, the state’s leading anti-abortion group, released a statement applauding lawmakers’ veto override, saying the bill will protect pregnancy resource centers from government discrimination.
“Kansans should remember who voted against these protections and went on record supporting government harassment of the pregnancy centers that provide women and families with real, tangible help,” the statement reads.
In a February interview with the Kansas News Service, Jeanne Gawdun, director of government relations for Kansans for Life, said it’s important to protect these centers.
“We're seeing in other states that there are some government elected officials who are actually using public funds to spread misinformation about pregnancy resource centers,” she said.
Democratic state Rep. Heather Meyer, who was against the override, said the bill will get in the way of people receiving accurate information about pregnancy and pregnancy-related services.
“The other thing about this is it prioritizes institutional ideology over individual rights,” Meyer said in a House proceeding Friday.
She said the bill gives special legal protections to pregnancy centers that other nonprofits, hospitals and counseling centers do not have and goes against Kansans’ 2022 vote to protect abortion.
“This is getting into dangerous territory,” Meyer said.
State Rep. Ford Carr, a Democrat from Wichita, criticized Republicans who claimed Kelly supports choice but not people who choose to give birth.
“This entire side has not voted to give the kids even lunches or food,” Carr said, referring to Republican-led bills that would require schools to verify the income of students who qualify for free lunches. “Anyone that’s poor has been left out, and that’s what this is.”
Sandy Brown is president of the Kansas Abortion Fund, a nonprofit that covers the cost of the procedure for Kansans. She says the bill is another attempt to restrict abortion.
“They will be able to operate with less oversight which means less accountability for how they treat and care for women,” she said of crisis pregnancy centers.
Brown said crisis pregnancy centers often pose as medical centers, which can be confusing for women and delay or restrict access to abortion. She said despite not being medical clinics, the centers provide information that is not accurate and can be dangerous.
Since 2022, the Kansas Legislature has appropriated more than $7 million to these centers. Brown said the centers divert women from clinics that offer abortion services, which do not receive state funding.
“Legislators want to scare abortion doctors out of practice. And they want to scare patients out of choosing abortion,” she said. “They're making it so difficult.”
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio.
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