The Kansas House on Thursday passed a bill requiring abortion providers to ask patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies and report the answers to the state.
The House approved, in an 81-39 vote, the bill that would require providers to ask patients 11 questions about their reasons for terminating a pregnancy, including that they can't afford another child, raising a child would hinder their education or careers, or a spouse or partner wanted her to have an abortion. The bill goes next to the state Senate, where it also is likely to pass.
At least seven states require similar reporting.
"Quite honestly, I don't understand it, you know, because I think Kansans made it very, very clear how they want Kansas to operate in this arena," Gov. Laura Kelly, a strong abortion rights supporter, said during a brief Associated Press interview this week.
Both chambers have large anti-abortion majorities and both sides believe there's a strong chance abortion opponents could override a Kelly veto of the reporting bill. Last year, lawmakers overrode Kelly's vetoes of other restrictions on providers.
Kansas allows most abortion up until the 22nd week of pregnancy, and that would not change under the reporting bill.
"This bill has nothing to do with eliminating abortion in Kansas, doesn't ban it, doesn't touch on that whatsoever," said House health Committee Chair Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican. "I've respected that vote."
Backers of the bill argued the state needs more and better data about why women and girls have abortions so lawmakers can create programs to address their concerns.
"If we're looking to protect unborn children and it's a socio-economic reason, then maybe a state can step up," said Ingrid Duran, state legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee.
In Kansas, a doctor who provides an abortion already must report the patient's age and ethnicity, whether the person was married and the method used to terminate a pregnancy.
States requiring doctors to report the reasons for an abortion include Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah.
Minnesota's Democratic-controlled Legislature repealed its similar reporting requirement last year.
The law in Oklahoma, where most abortions are banned, includes a list of more than 30 questions a provider must ask a patient about her motives. Potential reasons include relationship problems and not feeling mature enough to raise a child.
Democrats attacked what they saw as the unfairness of requiring women to face detailed questions about their motives for seeking health care when men would not.
But that tactic prompted an eye-roll from Landwehr during a post-vote interview. She said Democrats should favor better data collection.
"You know, it amazes me that they don't support this," she said.
