The Kansas Legislature has just handed the pro-life community in the state a huge victory by overriding Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto and signing into law a new bill that will protect pro-life pregnancy centers from state mandates that would interfere with the information and services they offer pregnant women.
Before diving deeper into the story, I think it’s critical to ask why radical leftists would want to limit available health care options for pregnant women, seemingly encouraging them to murder their pre-born children in the womb. Why is it a bad thing to have alternatives available for those who find themselves scared and pregnant but don’t want to kill their baby? Something about that just feels pure evil.
The Pregnancy Center Autonomy and Rights of Expression Act, also known as House Bill 2635, prohibits any arm of state or local government from requiring crisis pregnancy centers to “offer or perform abortions;” “offer, provide or distribute abortion-inducing drugs;” “counsel in favor of abortion or abortion-inducing drugs;” or “post any advertisement, sign, flyer or similar material that promotes abortion or abortion-inducing drugs or provides any information about obtaining an abortion or abortion-inducing drugs.”
One can only hope that what is happening in Kansas will inspire other GOP-majority state governments around the country to follow suit. Abortion isn’t a matter of choice. It’s a threat to our way of life. Our laws rest on the idea that rights come from God, an objective source who is all-knowing and all-powerful, outside of humanity. If rights only come from other men, particularly those in power in the government, that gives them the authority to grant and take them at will.
If we want to truly be a free country, our government must remain beholden to a set of principles that transcend humanity. The Founders believed they could find that set of principles in the law of God contained in scripture. This truth has made us the greatest country on earth. If we surrender that, the American experiment is over.
Plus, how can we defend the rights of the majority if we can’t protect the most basic, fundamental right — the right to exist — for our most vulnerable class of citizens? We can’t. Freedom is for a moral people. Murdering babies is certainly not moral.
The bill also prevents government from stopping these pro-life centers from “providing information, care, counseling, classes or other services related to pregnancy, childbirth or parenting;” “providing prenatal and postnatal resources, including diapers, baby clothes, baby furniture, formula and similar items;” providing medical testing, medical counseling and medical care or treatment related to pregnancy or childbirth;” “counseling a woman on any pregnancy-related care or treatment;” or otherwise “interfer(ing) with staffing or hiring decisions of a pregnancy center or medical pregnancy center by requiring such center to interview, hire or continue to employ any person who does not affirm the center’s mission statement or agree to comply with the center’s prolife ethic and operating procedures.”
Pregnancy centers can also sue any government entity that violates the protections outlined in the legislation for damages.
Kelly originally vetoed the legislation, saying, “we shouldn’t be spending tax dollars trying to interfere with that very personal, very private, medical decision,” but just a few hours later, lawmakers overrode her veto by an 87-35 vote in the House and a 30-9 vote in the Senate.
“This governor is quick to talk about supporting choice, but that support disappears the moment a mother chooses life,” Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins said in response to Kelly’s veto.
We desperately need more conservatives in office at the state level who are ready and willing to stand on moral principles against progressive ideology that threatens the very lives of our most vulnerable and precious citizens. Let’s hope this inspires others to see that real change can happen if good people stand for what’s right.
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