Brief ⁽¹⁾

The Senate substitute bill would amend existing law regarding partial birth abortions and restrictions on abortions performed after fetal viability.

In regard to partial birth abortions, the bill would amend existing law to repeal all exceptions to the prohibition against use of that procedure on viable fetuses. The existing definition of "partial birth abortion" and the existing penalty for violation of that provision of the law would be retained.

In regard to other restrictions on abortions after fetal viability, the bill would replace the phrase "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function" throughout the law with the term "health." Thus, the circumstances under which a viable fetus could be aborted would be to preserve the life or health of the pregnant woman.

The bill would clarify that both physicians involved in assessing the need for a post-viability abortion to preserve a woman's life or health must be licensed in Kansas. If the abortion is necessary to preserve the woman's mental health, one of the physicians would be required to have completed a residency in psychiatry.

Other amendments to current law include:

• �Making uniform the statutory description of medical standards used throughout the law;



• �Clarifying that provisions of existing law regarding determination of fetal age and viability do not eliminate the need for physicians to comply with the Woman's Right-To-Know Act;



• �Clarifying the standard for establishing a violation of the act;



• �Repealing one of the two current definitions of the term "viable"; and



• �Clarifying that the requirement for provision of certain printed materials to women prior to an abortion only applies to women who actually have an abortion.

Background

The Senate Committee of the Whole amended the bill to require that one of the two physicians involved in determining that a post-viability abortion is necessary to preserve a woman's mental health has completed a psychiatric residency.

The Senate substitute bill differs from the House-passed bill in the following material respects:

• �Prohibiting partial birth abortions of viable fetuses without exception;



• �Repealing one of the two existing definitions of the term "viable";



• �Clarifying that both physicians involved in determining the need for a post-viability abortion must be licensed in Kansas;



• �Making preservation of the pregnant woman's health an exception to the general post-viability abortion ban;



• �Making uniform the statutory description of medical standards used throughout the law;



• �Clarifying that provisions of the law regarding determination of fetal age and viability do not eliminate the need for physicians to comply with the Woman's Right-To-Know Act;



• �Clarifying that the requirement for provision of certain printed materials to women prior to an abortion applies only to women who actually have an abortion.

The Senate Committee's substitute bill is based on 1999 SB 357 with the following modifications:

• �Eliminating exceptions to the general ban on partial birth abortions;



• �Clarifying that both physicians involved in determining the need for a post-viability abortion must be licensed in Kansas; and



• �Making preservation of the pregnant woman's health an exception to the general post-viability abortion ban.

The following conferees presented testimony in support of the House version of the bill at the hearing held by the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs: Senator Nancey Harrington; Representative Phill Kline; representatives of Wee Life, Inc., Kansans for Life, Concerned Women for Kansas, and the Kansas Catholic Conference; and a number of individuals.

Representatives of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, the American Association of University Women, Women's Health Care Services, the League of Women Voters, and Kansas NOW; and several individuals presented testimony in opposition to the House version of the bill at the hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs.

The fiscal note prepared by the Division of the Budget on the introduced version of the bill may not be relevant to the Senate substitute bill.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html