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Minutes for SB527 - Committee on Federal and State Affairs
Short Title
Creating the crime of coercion to obtain an abortion and providing enhanced criminal penalties for offenses committed with the intent to coerce a woman to obtain an abortion.
Minutes Content for Tue, Mar 19, 2024
Jason Long, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill. SB527 would create the new crime of coercion to compel a pregnant woman to obtain an abortion, when she has expressed her desire to not have an abortion. The penalty is punishable by 30 days to one year imprisonment, and a fine of up to $5,000. If the father is 18 or older, and the mother is under 18 years of age, the penatly is 90 days to one year, and a fine of $1,000 to $10,000.
Coercion is defined as:
- Threatening to harm or physically restrain a person or creating or executing a plan to cause a person to believe that financial harm or restrain will occur if they do not perform the required act.
- Abusing or threatening to abuse the legal system, including threats of arrest or deportation of a person.
- Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating or possessing a person's passport, other immigration documents, or other identification document.
- Controlling a person's access to a controlled substance.
The bill also creates a new sentencing enhancement for person felonies that are committed with the intent to compel a pregnant woman to obtain an abortion when she has expressed a desire to not have an abortion. (Attachment 1)
Following a period of questions for the revisor, the Chairman called for proponent testimony.
Proponent Oral Testimony
Representative Rebecca Schmoe, District 59, spoke as a proponent of the bill. She stated when we are talking about coercion, it expands to many situations, such as parents threatening to stop supporting a young daughter's education, or disowning her if she doesn't have an abortion, to abusive partners threatening to remove the baby themselves if the woman doesn't go to an abortionist, to human traffickers saying "you will terminate this pregnancy, or I'm not going to provide you with your documents". Rep. Schmoe said that in her case, it was a medical professional, who told her that trying to carry her baby would result in her parents having to pick out a coffin for their own daughter, and that her baby was half-dead already. She was told she couldn't leave the office until she made the abortion appointment. After getting a second opinion, she carried her baby to term and he is a healthy 21 year old. She said coercion is abuse, and is unacceptable in any form. (Attachment 2)
Jeanne Gawdun, Director of Government Relations, Kansans for Life, spoke as a proponent of the bill. She stated that a recent study of more than 1,000 American women revealed that for two-thirds of them, the abortion was unwanted, coerced, or otherwise inconsistent with their own values and preferences. She said many of the women in the study had tactics leveraged against them to coerce them to have the abortion. She stated SB527 will give women the legal backing they need, and will give prosecutors an additional tool to seek justice for these women. (Attachment 3)
Lucrecia Nold, Public Policy Specialist, Kansas Catholic Conference, spoke as a proponent of the bill. She stated the Catholic Church consistently recognizes the value and dignity of all human life. This includes the woman who has found herself in an unplanned pregnancy with her unborn child, who should be allowed the freedom to choose to have her baby. She noted stories from written only proponent testimony from Terry Hund of Project 2 Restore, which helps women recover from sex trafficking. One story included a trafficked woman who was 27 and had had 12 pregnancies, with 11 abortions, with some being drug induced miscarriages by the trafficker to end her pregnancies. (Attachment 4)
Brittany Jones, Director of Policy and Engagement, Kansas Family Voice, spoke as a proponent of the bill. She stated there are currently no laws that give a woman the ability to hold accountable, those who may be forcing her to have an abortion against her will. She said studies have shown that a high percentage of women are coerced into abortion. Women who are being trafficked are one population that is most susceptible to having a coerced abortion. One report of 66 human trafficking survivors reported 114 abortions among the 66; many of them coerced. She said coercion is the opposite of choice. (Attachment 5)
Proponent Written Only Testimony
Terry Hund, Program Director, Project 2 Restore (Attachment 6)
Hayley Thomas, LMSW, Director of Client Resources, A Better Choice (Attachment 7)
Following a period of questions and answers, the Chairman called for neutral testimony.
Neutral Oral Testimony
Tessa Longbons Cox, Senior Research Associate, Charlotte Lozier Institute, spoke as neutral on the bill. She stated there were a few key findings in a study looking at 1,000 women, 200 of which had abortions. Over 60% of the women who had abortions reported pressure from finances, circumstances, or other people in their lives, and interpersonal pressure was most strongly correlated with negative mental and emotional outcomes, which interfered with their daily life, work, and relationships. 10% of the women in the study described their abortion as coerced. She stated there are instances of women being given abortion drugs without their knowledge or consent, and this bill would provide important protections for pregnant women in Kansas. (Attachment 8)
Neutral Written Only Testimony
Michelle McCormick, Executive Director, Kansas Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence (Attachment 9)
A period of questions and answers followed the neutral oral testimony.
The Chairman noted there was no oral opponent testimony, and one piece of opponent written only testimony:
Sapphire Garcia-Lies, Executive Director, Kansas Birth Justice Society (Attachment 10)
The Chairman closed the hearing on SB527.
