News & Commentary

Chloe Chaffin, program lead for Loud Light and the chapter president of Washburn Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, and Leslie Butsh, field director with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, discuss the state of reproductive rights this legislative session.

“[...T]hey weren’t going to say, ‘OK, you know, we tried it. And it’s clear that Kansans feel this particular way. And now we’re just going to respect that and leave it on the table.’ We knew that they were going to come back and continue to try to chip away at abortion rights," Leslie Butsch said.

Aileen Berquist, policy director for the ACLU of Kansas, said the organization was adamantly opposed to House Bill 2313 because it would insert politicians into the private medical decisions of individuals and families.

Lawmakers in Kansas have introduced seven bills in recent weeks focusing on abortion and transgender rights, such as SB 180, which received pushback from groups such as the ACLU of Kansas on the basis that it excludes transgender people from certain spaces.

The ACLU says that when the Kansas Supreme Court in 2019 found that the state constitution protects abortion, a decision called Hodes, the justices set a “strict scrutiny” standard for laws that infringe on fundamental rights.

“We would hope that legislators listen to what voters had to say with their overwhelming vote on the August ballot initiative,” said Aileen Berquist, policy director at the ACLU of Kansas.