August or November? Kansas abortion amendment timing a stumbling block for lawmakers

Republican leaders in the Kansas Legislature have placed an anti-abortion amendment to the state constitution on a fast track, but a small group of Democrats and Republicans hold the power to extract concessions or even derail swift passage.

Amendment supporters, who unveiled their proposal last week, will need to win over at least some of those lawmakers to reach the two-thirds majorities needed in the House and the Senate to send the measure to voters.

Right now, their support is far from a sure thing.

This band of potentially persuadable lawmakers includes Democrats who have previously backed anti-abortion legislation, and moderate Republicans uneasy with a push to put the amendment on the August ballot, a primary election that typically features lower turnout and more conservative voters.

Anti-abortion activists and lawmakers are championing the measure to counteract the Kansas Supreme Court decision last year that found the state constitution protects a woman’s right to end a pregnancy. The amendment does not, by itself, ban abortion but would create a legal climate more welcoming to abortion regulations.

The amendment says that the Kansas Constitution doesn’t include the right to an abortion and that the Legislature can approve abortion laws to the extent allowed by the U.S. Constitution. Lawmakers may pass laws about abortion related to rape, incest and the life of the mother, the measure notes, but there is no requirement that they do so.

Rep. Jeff Pittman, a Leavenworth Democrat, is one of the handful of Democrats who have backed anti-abortion legislation in the past. Last April, he voted for a bill that would have required doctors to tell women receiving a medication abortion that the procedure may be reversible once it’s begun. But he also voted to support Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto.

On Tuesday, Pittman said it’s “terrible” the amendment doesn’t include exceptions related to rape, incest and the mother’s health. He said he’s reserving judgment on whether he’ll support the measure but said he can’t see an amendment not including those exceptions.

“And to open it up like that, so that just a majority of politicians would control that, doesn’t seem like something I could support,” Pittman said.

A “broad span of the people” should decide the fate of the amendment, Pittman said. He condemned efforts to “ram it into a primary” with fewer voters.

Across the aisle, some moderate Republicans are also voicing concerns, especially over the proposed timing of the amendment.

“I think an amendment like this, if it’s to be voted on, should be as convenient as possible to the most number of people possible, which would be the general,” said Rep. Jan Kessinger, an Overland Park Republican, referring to the November election.

Like Pittman, Kessinger also supported the abortion medication bill in April but later voted to uphold Kelly’s veto.

The amendment is set to head through the Legislature at high speed and Republican leaders have labeled it a top priority. House and Senate committees on Tuesday convened a joint, marathon hearing to air hours of testimony from supporters and opponents.

“It is time for us – individually, as a state and as a country – to repent of the wickedness of destroying the defenseless,” said Daniel Coughlin, who drove down from Sabetha to testify in support.

“Decisions about whether to end a pregnancy are deeply personal and should be left to a woman in consultation with her health care provider, her family, and her faith – not politicians in Topeka,” Sandy Brown, director of the Kansas Abortion Fund, said in written testimony in opposition.

At least 125 people crammed into the lengthy hearing, with some standing in the aisle and others even sitting on the floor. The hours-long gathering cleared the way for the committees to quickly vote send the amendment to the House and Senate floors, possibly as soon as this week.

Jeanne Gawdun, a lobbyist for Kansans for Life, said she doesn’t know whether amendment supporters will lose votes among legislators by having the proposal on the August ballot.

“The important thing is to be able to get it to the people and have the people have the best opportunity to be able to vote for this,” Gawdun said. “Away from the noise and from being buried at the bottom of the ballot. It’s a very critical thing.”

Lawmakers will have multiple chances to debate, and potentially change, the date of the amendment election. Sen. Rick Wilborn, a McPherson Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he anticipates lawmakers will attempt alterations when his committee debates it.

Wilborn said he personally favors placing the amendment on the August ballot. The amendment would be “diluted” by the presidential election and other races in the November election, he contends.

“Some years it would be better in the general. But this year, I think it’s better at the primary,” he said.

At least one lawmaker is seeking a third option, however. Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican, on Tuesday floated holding a special election, possibly in April.

“I’d hate to see this become a political football where it’s not on the right election for someone so they can’t vote for it, or it’s on the wrong election,” Pyle said. “I’d like to see us put it on a neutral field where it’s about that issue and people get out and vote based on that issue.”