The Kansas Republican legislators have passed a bill that mandates abortion providers in the state to inquire about the reasons behind a patient's decision to terminate their pregnancy and report this information to the state. The Senate voted 27-13 in favor of the bill following the House's approval earlier this month. The bill is now headed to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, a staunch supporter of abortion rights, who is expected to veto it. However, supporters of the bill seem to have sufficient majorities in both chambers to potentially override a veto.
While at least eight other states have similar reporting requirements, Kansas notably held a statewide vote on abortion rights in August 2022, where voters decisively upheld abortion rights under the state constitution. Despite this, Republicans and anti-abortion groups have continued to introduce new regulations for abortion providers, leading to frustration among Democrats.
Proponents of the reporting bill argue that it would provide the state with valuable data to assist legislators in making informed policy decisions. The bill stipulates that providers must ask patients 11 specific questions regarding their reasons for seeking an abortion, such as financial constraints, educational or career aspirations, or pressure from a partner. Patients, however, are not obligated to respond to these inquiries.
Additionally, the bill requires providers to report demographic information about each patient, including age, marital status, race, and education level. To protect patient privacy, a confidential code would be used for each individual, ensuring anonymity in the data submitted to the state. The state would be prohibited from identifying specific providers in the published data for a minimum of five years.
