Kan. House panel endorses anti-abortion measure

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A measure aimed at making sure Kansas doesn't subsidize abortions even indirectly through tax credits and deductions won the approval of a state House committee Thursday after members rewrote part of it to address concerns that it could endanger the state medical school's accreditation.

The bill endorsed by the Federal and State Affairs Committee also has been hotly debated because it includes breast cancer in a list of potential risks doctors must discuss with women before terminating a pregnancy — though a direct link between the two hasn't been firmly established. Also, the bill would prohibit public schools from using materials from groups providing abortions in human sexuality courses.

The committee's voice vote sends the bill to the House, which has a strong anti-abortion majority. Rep. John Rubin, a Shawnee Republican, said the measure protects the interests of the many Kansans who oppose abortion in most circumstances and want to see that the state isn't financially involved in it.

"That is the motivating factor behind this bill," Rubin said. "I support this bill not only because it is correct public policy and the right thing to do, but because it is the clear will of a majority of my constituents and a majority of Kansans."

Among other things, the bill would prevent individual income tax filers from including abortion expenses if they claim a deduction for their medical costs. While prescriptions are exempt from the sales tax, under the bill, the exemption wouldn't apply to drugs used in inducing abortions. Nonprofit groups could not claim the normal sales tax exemption on items they buy if they provided abortions.

Kari Ann Rinker, a lobbyist for the Kansas chapter of the National Organization for Women, called the bill a sweeping attack on women's health care.

"There is no other medical procedure that I am aware of — male, female, or whatever, veterinary for that matter — that is monitored to the degree that women's health care is, by non-professionals," she said.

Rinker angered Rubin and other committee members during a February hearing on the bill by pulling a rubber stamp out of a bag and suggesting members could use it on all anti-abortion measures. But the bill remained in committee for weeks, without a vote.

One issue was the University of Kansas Medical Center, which trains doctors. Residents can't perform abortions at the independent hospital on the center's Kansas City, Kan., campus, but they can terminate pregnancies off-site, on non-state property. Medical Center officials worried the bill would end abortion training and jeopardize the center's accreditation.

Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, said abortion has been unnecessarily "mainstreamed" into obstetrics and gynecology training, to "recruit abortionists" and "normalize" abortion.

The Chicago-based Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education issued a statement this week that under its standards, institutions objecting to abortion can avoid having them performed on-site but must make arrangements for training elsewhere.

"All programs must have an established curriculum for family planning, including complications of abortions and provisions to supply hands-on training in terminations for those residents who desire it," the statement said.

Rubin offered a successful amendment to make it clear Kansas law wouldn't prevent Medical Center residents from performing abortions off state property on their own time. The Medical Center issued a statement saying it would continue to "work constructively" to see that it and its obstetrics and gynecology program remain fully accredited.

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Abortion measure is HB 2598.

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Online:

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Kansans for Life:

Kansas chapter, National Organization for Women: