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I am actually going to Knitting tonight. Pres Man kicked me out of the house in the middle of painting the trim. I think this has something to do with our Saturday DM being one of the knitters, and her asking if I was EVER coming to Knitting again.

So here I go. I hope I do not have paint in my hair.

Kansas House Bill 2598

Here is the text of HB 2598 in the state of Kansas.

Here are some highlights:

New Sec. 10. (a) No civil action may be commenced in any court
for a claim of wrongful life or wrongful birth, and no damages may be
recovered in any civil action for any physical condition of a minor that
existed at the time of such minor’s birth if the damages sought arise out of
a claim that a person’s action, or omission, contributed to such minor’s
mother not obtaining an abortion.

This means, I think, that if a doctor lies to you or decides not to tell you something, based on the guess that telling you might cause you to get an abortion, you cannot sue him later for lying or omitting the information. So you could have a test run that is supposed to tell you if there is something horribly wrong with your baby, and he might read the results and realize that yes, something is very wrong, but he could just Not Tell You, and then you would be unprepared for whatever was coming. And you'd have no recourse. Why not just outlaw amniocentesis and the other tests altogether?


(b) As used in article 19 of chapter 60 of the Kansas Statutes
Annotated, and amendments thereto, a person also means an unborn child.
(c) As used in this section, "unborn child" means a living individual
organism of the species homo sapiens, in utero, at any stage of gestation
from fertilization to birth.

From Fertilization To Birth. This is Personhood USA's agenda. They are putting it in here because they have not been having any luck getting their constitutional amendments passed in the states they have already campaigned in.


(e) (f) "Medical emergency" means that condition which, on the basis
of the physician's good faith clinical judgment using and exercising that
degree of care, skill and proficiency commonly exercised by the ordinary
skillful, careful and prudent physician in the same or similar
circumstances, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman
as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her
death or for which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and
irreversible impairment of a major bodily function. No condition shall be
deemed a medical emergency if based on a claim or diagnosis that the
woman will engage in conduct which would result in her death or in
substantial and irreversible physicial impairment of a major bodily
function.

I'm glad this is included, but I'm angry at WHY they included it. They're protecting people like my sister who had preeclampsia, but they are also making sure that mental or emotional damage does not count. So if you think a woman might kill herself if you force her to stay pregnant, that's nothing to worry about.


(c) (1) Except in the case of a medical emergency, prior to performing
or inducing, or attempting to perform or induce an abortion upon a
woman, the physician shall determine the gestational age of the unborn
child according to accepted obstetrical and neonatal practice and standards
applied by physicians in the same or similar circumstances.

They do not spell it out here, but for early pregnancy (which is when what, 88% of terminations occur?), this means the internal ultrasound. Up the hoo-ha. Which means if a woman has gone to a doctor for an abortion because she was raped, she gets to be penetrated AGAIN. Even if she does not want to be.


Sec. 15. K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 65-6709 is hereby amended to read as
follows: 65-6709. No abortion shall be performed or induced without the
voluntary and informed consent of the woman upon whom the abortion is
to be performed or induced. Except in the case of a medical emergency,
consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed only if:

(3) a description of risks related to the proposed abortion method,
including risk of premature birth in future pregnancies, risk of breast
cancer and risks to the woman's reproductive health and alternatives to the
abortion that a reasonable patient would consider material to the decision
of whether or not to undergo the abortion;

This is where they instruct doctors to give their patients wrong information. There is no link between breast cancer and abortion.


Also, they have to tell you this:

(5) the abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique,
living human being;

And not only do they require an ultrasound, which lets you hear any fetal heartbeat (as far as I know), they also want to use a heart monitor. So you can hear the heartbeat again. Just in case you were not clear on what was about to happen. Also, I think this is because it's a lot harder to plug your ears than it is to avert your eyes from a screen.

(i) A physician who will use heart monitor equipment preparatory to
or in the performance of the abortion, at least 30 minutes prior to the
performance of the abortion:
(1) Informs the woman that she has the right to listen to the heartbeat
of her unborn child, at no additional expense to her;
(2) offers the woman the opportunity to listen to the heartbeat of her
unborn child;
(3) certifies in writing that the woman was offered the opportunity to
listen to the heartbeat of her unborn child at least 30 minutes prior to the
performance of the abortion; and
(4) obtains the woman's signed acceptance or rejection of the
opportunity to listen to the heartbeat of her unborn child.
If the woman accepts the offer and requests to listen to the heartbeat of
her unborn child, her request shall be granted by the physician at no
additional expense to the woman. The physician's certification shall be
time-stamped at the time the opportunity to listen to the heartbeat of her
unborn child was offered.

There are a lot of places in the bill that read just like what is above. "At No Extra Expense To Her." Which is good, right? If the legislature is mandating things that a woman does not want, but HAS to have, why should she pay for it? But when you add up all the things that have to be offered/provided At No Extra Expense To Her, you can tell what's going on. They are trying to make abortion services so unprofitable that no one can afford to provide them.


(1) The term "human being" means an individual living member of
the species of homo sapiens, including the unborn human being during the
entire embryonic and fetal ages from fertilization to full gestation.

Again: From Fertilization. Before the baby has even implanted. Do they know how many HUMAN BEINGS die each year from failure to implant? It's a lot. They should really do something about that. /sarcasm

(2) The term "medically challenging pregnancy" means a pregnancy
where the unborn child is diagnosed as having: (A) A severe anomaly; or
(B) an illness, disease or defect which is invariably fatal.
Sec. 16. K.S.A. 2011 Supp. 65-6710 is hereby amended to read as
follows: 65-6710. (a) The department shall cause to be published and
distributed widely, within 30 days after the effective date of this act, and
shall update on an annual basis, the following easily comprehensible
informational materials:

(3) The printed materials shall, at a minimum, contain the following
text:

Eight weeks after conception, except for the small size, the developing human’s overall
appearance and many internal structures closely resemble the newborn.

Not Really.

And then there are pages and pages and pages (more than half the bill, I think) that deal with tax code changes, donations to community colleges, contractors equipment, and swine farms. Naturally.

If you live in Kansas, or even if you don't, here are the people who are voting on this bill; I'm sure they'd love to hear what you think. I plan to write to every one of them, beginning with my representative and working my way out to representatives from the surrounding area.