Abortion

Kansas Signs “Fetal Pain,” Two Parent Parental Consent Into Law

Two new abortion restrictions have been signed into law by Kansas Governor Sam Brownback.

Republican Governor Sam Brownback has signed two new abortion restrictions into law.  The first, a 21 week abortion ban, is the latest of the “fetal pain” bans to be enacted, inspired by the Nebraska law passed last year.  The second, a parental consent requiement for a minor girl who wants an abortion, adds the unusual restriction of asking both parents provide consent if the parents are married, or the custodial parent if the parents are divorced.

The laws on their own are the biggest restrictions on abortion in the state in over a decade.  But they also come with a hodgepodge of other anti-choice wish list restrictions ranging from linguistic changes to pre-abortion lectures, according to The Citizen:

The signed bills also con­tain pro­vi­sions that ensure stricter report­ing of late-term abor­tions. Addi­tion­ally, 24 hours before the pro­ce­dure, women will receive infor­ma­tion say­ing the abor­tion will “ter­mi­nate the life of a whole, sep­a­rate, unique, liv­ing human being.” The leg­is­la­tion also replaces all ref­er­ences to “fetus,” in state statute, chang­ing it to “unborn child.”

Encouraged by their victory, anti-choice legislators will attempt to pass bills limiting abortion coverage in insurance and licensing of clinics before the legislative session ends.