Kansas abortion amendment fails despite House Republicans holding vote open for 5 hours

A proposed anti-abortion amendment to the Kansas Constitution suffered a major setback Friday, falling four votes shy of placement on the statewide August ballot.

House Republicans held open the vote — extending the allotted time for members to decide — for more than five hours in hopes of reaching the required two-thirds majority. But they could assemble only 80 of the 84 votes needed. The amendment cleared the Senate last week.

If passed by voters, the “Value Them Both Amendment” — meaning women and their unborn babies — would establish that the state constitution doesn’t include the right to an abortion.

Supporters say it will guarantee lawmakers the ability to regulate abortion following a Kansas Supreme Court decision this spring that found the personal right to autonomy extends to a woman’s decision to end a pregnancy. Opponents contend it could enable the Legislature to ban abortion if the federal right to the procedure ever ends.

Republicans said they were undaunted despite the amendment’s failure.

“The fate of the pro-life movement has never rested on a single vote,” said House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, as it became clear the measure would be defeated.

Until Friday, the amendment had been on a fast track to passage, powered by a coalition of anti-abortion groups that proposed it less than a month ago. But it hit a wall in the House, formed by Democrats and reinforced by four Republicans. No Democrats backed the amendment even though several have supported anti-abortion legislation in the past.

“It’s obviously too extreme because they had to use a six-hour call of the House to try to pass it and still couldn’t pass it,” said House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat.

The Republicans who voted no expressed reservations that the ballot measure was set for the August primary instead of the general election in November, when turnout would be higher.

“When the Legislature decides to place a change to our state constitution before the electorate, I believe we must ensure an electoral process that guarantees the largest voter turnout,” Rep. Tom Phillips, a Manhattan Republican, said in an official written statement explaining his vote.

Before the vote was finalized Friday the state’s leading anti-abortion group raised the stakes, warning it would oppose Medicaid expansion unless the Legislature approved the amendment. Expansion enjoys bipartisan support and is a key goal of Gov. Laura Kelly, but is vehemently opposed by some Republican leaders.

“Passing the Value Them Both Amendment to the Kansas Constitution is the only way to ensure expansion does not turn into a new public funding stream for the abortion industry,” Kansans for Life lobbyist Jeanne Gawdun said.

Gawdun said that unless the amendment becomes law, it is “highly likely that all regulations on the abortion industry will be struck down, including prohibitions on taxpayer funded abortions.” Amendment opponents disagree with the idea that all regulations are in peril, however.

Repercussions began within minutes of the amendment’s defeat.

Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, immediately pulled 13 bills from the Senate floor that could have been amended to include Medicaid expansion and sent them back to committee. Her staff indicated that Senate committees wouldn’t advance any House bills until the amendment is approved.

April Holman, director of the pro-expansion Alliance for a Healthy Kansas, said abortion and expansion are “two very separate issues.”

“It’s unfortunate that the two have become tangled together,” Holman said in a statement. “The bottom line is that Medicaid expansion saves lives.”

This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Kansas abortion amendment fails despite House Republicans holding vote open for 5 hours."