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Today’s News & Views
Kansas Abortion Clinic Regulation Bill
Vetoed by Governor
By Liz Townsend
The pro-abortion governor of Kansas
vetoed an abortion clinic regulation bill that would have required
inspections by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE)
and reporting of injuries and deaths. The state House, although it
passed the Women’s Health Protection Act by a veto-proof margin of 88-34
March 31, failed by two votes to override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’s April
15 veto, according to the Kansas City Star.
Since the House failed to pass the
bill over the governor’s veto by a vote of 82-42 April 28, there was no
override attempt in the Senate. The Senate had originally approved the
bill by a veto-proof margin March 25 with a vote of 27-12.
“It is inexcusable, indefensible for
the governor to have vetoed the bill,” Kansans for Life (KFL) Executive
Director Mary Kay Culp told NRL News. “We’re just trying to shut down
the legal back-alley abortion clinics in Kansas.”
Currently, the only state regulation
of abortion clinics comes from the Board of Healing Arts, which has
limited power to investigate complaints against specific abortionists.
“This bill would have required KDHE to do proactive inspections,” said
Culp.
State guidelines now only suggest
that deaths and injuries that occur in abortion clinics be reported
within 72 days. The vetoed bill would have required deaths to be
reported within 24 hours and injuries within 10 days.
Other provisions of the bill mandated
KDHE to set minimum standards for clinic personnel, procedures, and
cleanliness, as well as requiring trained surgeons and surgical
assistants as staff members.
According to Culp, KFL complained to
state authorities for over a year about the Kansas City clinic of
physician Krishna Rajanna, whose license to practice was eventually
suspended indefinitely and his clinic closed by the Board of Healing
Arts.
“A rodent was found in plain view at
the clinic, there were baby parts found in the freezer next to food, and
the clinic was just filthy,” Culp said. “It took until the day of the
Senate vote on the clinic regulation bill for the board to close it
down.”
“The Board of Healing Arts has taken
not months but years to take care of the problems at one clinic,” said
pro-life Rep. Peggy Mast (R-Emporia), according to the Wichita Eagle.
“Abortion in Kansas has come down to the level of care in a Third World
country.”
A previous clinic regulation bill was
vetoed by Gov. Sebelius in 2003, the Associated Press reported. Sebelius
issued a statement April 15 when she vetoed the Women’s Health
Protection Act, claiming that the legislature should have included all
medical clinics in the bill. “Once again in 2005, the Legislature has
chosen pure politics over good policy, has rejected uniform standards
for all procedures, and has instead chosen to regulate only one
procedure -- abortion,” Sebelius stated.
The failure to override the veto
greatly concerned pro-lifers, who fear that the weak regulations
currently in place are not enough to protect the lives of Kansas women.
Dave Andrusko can be reached at
dandrusko@nrlc.org. |
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