Kansas lawmakers can't muster votes to override governor's veto of latest forced-birther meddling

It was close. When Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a contentious abortion “reversal” bill that had been passed overwhelmingly by the Republican super-majority in both houses of the state legislature, the party leadership figured an override would be a slam dunk. But they didn’t count on losing one Republican and four Democrats who had voted for the bill but would not oppose the governor’s veto. That left them a single vote short of the 84 needed in the House to defeat that veto of the reversal procedure that is disputed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other physicians. 

It was the second victory in a week for reproductive rights advocates in Kansas. On April 25, in a stunning decision in the case of Hodes & Nauser MDs, PA, et al. v. Derek Schmidt et al., the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution recognizes the right to abortion, regardless of federal law. The court stated in response to SB 95, a 2015 Kansas law that banned dilation and evacuation (D and E), the most common form and safest second-trimester abortion procedure, which is recommended by the World Health Organization: 

“Section 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights provides: ‘All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' We are now asked: Is this declaration of rights more than an idealized aspiration? And, if so, do the substantive rights include a woman’s right to make decisions about her body, including the decision whether to continue her pregnancy? We answer these questions, ‘Yes.’”

That decision likely will have repercussions for other abortion restrictions that may be proposed or already be on the books in the state.

The failed override means that abortion clinics and doctors will not be required, as Senate Bill 67 commanded, to provide women with written and verbal information about the highly disputed technique for supposedly “reversing” pill-induced abortions. Medication abortions account for 61% of the Kansas total, according to the state health service. Had the bill been enacted into law with the governor’s signature, the penalty for failure to comply with its provisions would have been a $10,000 fine. On a second violation, a physician or operator of a health facility could be charged with a felony.

from Daily Kos http://bit.ly/2vELcgp