Kansas Human Life Amendment (HCR 5010)

HCR 5010 is a legislatively-referred ballot initiative which would amend the Kansas Constitution to “guarantee the inalienable rights, equal protection and due process of law of every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being, including fertilization.”

This amendment would define personhood as beginning at the moment of fertilization, and would give full constitutional rights to fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses. Because abortion would be classified as the intentional killing of a person, it would have been banned as a form of homicide, with no exception for rape, incest, or to save the life of the pregnant person.

This amendment would also have banned birth control pills, IUDs, and emergency contraception. In addition, it would have eliminated certain medical choices for women, including some cancer treatments, in vitro fertilization, and might have led to investigation and prosecution of women who miscarry to determine if their own actions caused the death.

STATUS

This ballot initiative died in committee.

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