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Despite August vote, Wichita lawmaker wants to allow local governments to restrict abortion [1]

['Andy Tsubasa Field', 'Lauren Sforza']

Date: 2023-01

Fellow Kansas state senators and Senate staffers confer with Sen. Alicia Straub, R-Ellinwood, at her desk, during a break in a debate on proposals aimed at financially protecting workers who refuse to comply with federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, at the Statehouse, in Topeka, Kan. The others in the photo are, clockwise from the left, Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover; Senate Secretary Corey Carnahan; Masterson chief of operations Chase Blasi; Sen. Dennis Pyle, R-Hiawatha, and Sen. Mark Steffen, R-Hutchinson. The Associated Press

A Wichita Republican has introduced legislation that would allow local governments to issue their own restrictions and regulations of abortion — even though state constitution guarantees a right to abortion and bars most restrictions on the procedure.

Sen. Chase Blasi, a first year senator who was Senate President Ty Masterson’s chief of staff until last year, introduced the bill in the Senate Federal and State affairs committee Thursday.

The bill is one of the first abortion bills filed since Kansans overwhelmingly voted in August to retain a state-level right to an abortion in the state’s constitution.

A 2019 ruling in the Hodes case from the Kansas Supreme Court says that a woman’s right to an abortion can only be restricted in extremely rare circumstances under the highest judicial bar of strict scrutiny.

Blasi’s bill does not change that but it does seek to repeal an existing state law that bars local governments from regulating abortion. Blasi said he had not discussed possible restrictions with local officials in Wichita, and acknowledged that any restrictions would likely face a legal challenge.

“I’m hearing a lot from my constituents who believe we should continue to do more to help the unborn,” Blasi said. “Ultimately the question becomes what is allowed under the Hodes decision.”

“The Supreme Court should give more clarity because it’s so vague. It’s hard to understand exactly what is allowed or not allowed under Hodes. So absolutely, if local governments in conversations with constituents decide to adopt new policies and if they go through the court system the courts will have to decide.”

Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, said legislation like Blasi’s ignores voters’ message in August to leave abortion rights alone.

“As many of us suspected, this issue will keep coming back and keep coming back,” Holscher said. “General citizens feel like, okay, that issue’s been settled.”

Blasi said he was also working on legislation aimed at expanding adoption options in Kansas.

While Blasi said he had not discussed his proposal with leadership, Republican and anti-abortion leaders in Kansas have discussed an interest in providing additional funding for anti-abortion pregnancy centers as well as seeking clarity from the Kansas Supreme Court on what abortion restrictions are and are not permissible.

Litigation over local policies would provide an avenue for that without dragging the state back into court.

In a statement Anamare Rebori-Simmons, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, called the bill a blatant disregard of the will of the people.

“Abortion rights won in a landslide, including in the home county of the bill’s sponsor. Politicians serve as the voice of the people in the legislature, and Republican lawmakers should know better than to silence those they represent,” Rebori-Simmons said.

Jeanne Gawdun, a lobbyist for Kansans for Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion organization, said the group’s attorneys had not reviewed Blasi’s bill. She said the organization’s priority this legislative session is to steer state funding to crisis pregnancy centers.

There have been a handful of other abortion bills in Kansas this year.

Sen. Mark Steffen, a Hutchinson Republican, introduced a bill earlier this year that would ban medication abortion by telemedicine. An earlier ban on telemedicine abortion was struck down by the court last year for violating the state constitution.

In the House, Rep. Brett Fairchild, a St. John Republican, introduced legislation to create a process for impeachment of Supreme Court judges.

“We will continue to see various bills and various efforts to try to remove some of those freedoms, remove access,” Holscher said. “And probably taking various different paths to do that.”

This story was originally published January 19, 2023 12:29 PM.

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[1] Url: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article271376562.html

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