This election will involve serious health care choices, and it will not just be about abortions. Access to health care, family planning options, and medical privacy rights will also be found throughout the ballots we cast on November 5th. We must know the choices we have before us when we choose the people who will represent us at the federal, state, and local levels as their policies will impact the health care Kansans receive.
Thanks to the Dobbs Decision reversing Roe v Wade, voting at the state level now has implications for health care access. There is bipartisan support for Medicaid expansion in Kansas. Expansion would provide health care insurance for over 100,000 Kansans currently uninsured, leading Gov. Kelly to include it in every budget she has submitted to the Republican-controlled legislature. It failed to pass either chamber earlier this year.
A Sunflower Foundation poll published February 23, 2024, shows that Kansans continue to support Medicaid expansion, with 83% of small business owners, and 78% of registered voters favoring the expansion. The poll also shows that 77% of registered voters (including 73% of primary Republicans voters) believe the issue should be put to voters directly (expandkancare.com).
The Kansas Legislature continues to pass bills to restrict access to abortion provided by the Kansas Constitution despite the failed effort to remove the constitutional protections in 2022 (npr.org 22 Aug 22). Bills passed by the Kansas Legislature since include HB 2264 requiring doctors to tell patients abortion pills may be reversed (not true) (reuters 30 Oct 23), HB 2749 requiring doctors to report the reasons women need abortions for public records (abc.go.com 21 May 24), and HB 2325 bans abortion providers from buying medical liability insurance from a state fund (kansasreflector.com 28 Apr 23).
These bills became law thanks to the Republican supermajority in the legislature, which enabled them to override Democratic Gov. Kelly’s veto. The bills now face legal challenges, such as HB 2749, which has been challenged by physicians, represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, on the grounds that the law “directly interferes with Kansans’ bodily autonomy and their fundamental right to make their own decisions about health care” (abc.go.com 21 May 24).
While Dobbs sent abortion decisions back to the states, Congress continues to levy power over health care decisions. A court in Alabama ruled earlier this year that frozen embryos used in In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) were children with personhood rights under state law, effectively criminalizing their destruction (washingtonpost.com 20 Feb 24). This ruling has rippled across the medical and legal communities causing many IVF clinics to pause their treatment programs (apnews.com 22 Feb 24).
Republicans in Congress have taken aim at contraception and IVF. Just last month, Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted against a bill to protect and expand IVF (S 4445), with both Kansas Senators falling in line with their party (ussenate.gov 13 Jun 24). This effort follows a similar fate for the bill to guarantee access to contraception, which is used for purposes beyond birth control. Republicans refused to let the bill advance to the Senate floor, with only Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) voting with Democrats to protect a family’s reproductive rights. Senator Marshall voted against the measure, while Senator Moran did not vote (washingtonpost.com 5 Jun 24).
Kansans’ medical privacy rights have come under attack. The Kansas Legislature has targeted medical care for LGBTQ+ Kansans with SB 233 denying families access to medical care for minors in gender transition. Major medical groups including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics stand opposed to such bans due to the emotional harm caused, often leading to suicide attempts. Governor Kelly vetoed the bill, and the Legislature failed to override it (pbs.org 12 Apr 24).
HB 2313 requires medical providers to report to the State annually on all abortions performed, including the name of the patient, and medical justification for the procedure. Governor Kelly vetoed the bill, but it was overridden by the Legislature (sos.ks.gov 27 Apr 24).
Kansans will choose their health care options in November through their choices on the ballot. We can elect legislators who might choose the draconian days of government inaction leading to Kansans being left without health insurance coverage, thus denying them access to health care; and we can elect those who support government overreach where the state sits in the examination room directing families and their doctors on medical decisions regardless of best practices, or the physical, emotional, or financial harm caused. Or, we can choose to expand Medicaid and give Kansans access to the health care they deserve, while leaving medical decisions to the privacy of the examination room where only the families, their clergy, and their doctors are involved in medical decisions.
Kansans deserve elected representatives who support and protect medical access and privacy for all Kansans, not just those who fit some long-past idealized version of society. Only through careful evaluation of all candidates on the ballot in November can each of us send to Topeka and Washington those who support patient rights and health care for all Kansans.
Jim Calvert is a retired English Teacher who grew up in Emporia.
