Lenten Campaign 2025
This content is free of charge, as are all our articles.
Support us with a donation that is tax-deductible and enable us to continue to reach millions of readers.
The Kansas legislature voted Thursday, April 10, to override the governor’s veto of a bill that would require child support payments for unborn children.
Gov. Laura Kelly (D) vetoed HB2062 the day before, 10 days after the bill was presented to her to sign.
The nearly entirely party-line vote saw all 31 Republican members of the Kansas Senate vote to overturn the veto. In the Kansas House of Representatives, no Democrats and all but one Republican voted to overturn the veto.
The bill would “provide for child support orders for unborn children from the date of conception, including the direct medical and pregnancy-related expenses of the mother as a factor in child support orders.”
It would also permit expectant mothers to claim their unborn and stillborn children as an income tax exemption.
Those who were opposed to the bill told Kansas media that it contained “fetal personhood language” that could have an impact on the legality of abortion.
The bill “establishes in law that a fetus has the same rights as a born baby, and so through that logic, you could ban abortion,” said Rep. Alexis Simmons (D-Topeka) in KSNW.
Abortion is legal in Kansas until the 22nd week of a pregnancy, with exceptions to preserve the life of the mother.
Sen. Kellie Warren (R-Leawood), who voted to pass the bill and to overturn the veto, said in KSNW that the bill creates “one more factor that the court can look at when it makes child support orders.”
Warren continued, explaining that this new factor is “the pregnancy-related expenses that the mom has had,” which includes things such as taking time off of work or maternity clothes.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a political nonprofit that supports candidates who are opposed to abortion, told Aleteia that bills like HB2062 create a culture that helps support mothers and children.
“Child support eligibility should begin when a child's life begins – and, as everyone knows, the plans and dreams and expenses of raising the child begin at conception,” Kelsey Pritchard, SBA’s Political Affairs Communications Director told Aleteia in an email.
Mothers and their children “deserve support throughout pregnancy as well as after birth,” said Prichard.
“We commend the Kansas Legislature for working to create a culture of life and continually standing up to Democratic Governor Laura Kelly, who has once again vetoed money for pregnant mothers in Kansas,” she said.
Fetal development taught in schools
The Kansas Legislature also overrode another veto of a pro-life bill.
HB 2382, which was also vetoed by Kelly on Wednesday, requires that school districts "include a fetal development presentation as part of the curriculum for any course that addresses human growth, human development or human sexuality."
This bill, claimed Gov. Kelly, is "manipulative," and "fails to establish standards to ensure the information included in the program is evidence-based.”
But on the floor, Republican Senator Joe Claeys said the bill was about scientific facts.
“What the opponents fear most about this bill is that the scientific facts might actually lead students to their own conclusions,” he said.
The veto was overridden by a 31 to nine vote in the Kansas Senate and an 84 to 41 vote in the House, again largely along party lines.
