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TOPEKA — A Kansas Republican is once again looking for a path to stop abortion, with a new proposal to change the state constitution to say life begins at conception.

Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 1623 on behalf of Doug Johnson, calling it an “equal rights amendment.”

The same language is used in Senate calendar listings, where no mention is made of additional language that makes it an anti-abortion measure. According to its text, the amendment seeks to “clearly guarantee the equal rights of men and women, beginning at conception.”

The resolution currently sits in the Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs, which Thompson chairs. He has not added it to published agendas and didn’t respond to a Kansas Reflector request asking when it might be heard.

The Kansas Supreme Court determined in 2019 that the state’s constitution protects abortion because it protects a woman’s right to personal autonomy.

The Lessons of the Kansas Primary Go Far Beyond Abortion Rights

In 2022, Kansas voters defeated a state constitutional amendment that would have changed that language and opened the door to an abortion ban. The proposal failed by a 59% to 41% vote.

“Continued efforts to revisit that choice show us precisely what these politicians think of Kansas voters: that they’re either not paying attention or too naïve to understand what’s going on,” said Taylor Morton, legislative affairs and organizing manager with Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes. “Kansans know better, and we trust them to see this for what it is — an attack on their rights.”

Typically, Senate concurrent resolutions are heard in the assigned committee, which then reports to the Senate.

The Senate debates and votes. A two-thirds majority is required for constitutional amendment resolutions to pass. The same process occurs in the House. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly doesn’t have veto power, and the question is sent to voters.

Kansas’ earlier vote made international news as it was the first state to put abortion rights to the test after the Supreme Court changed federal law.

“In a major victory for abortion rights, Kansas voters on Tuesday rejected an effort to strip away their state’s abortion protections, sending a decisive message about the issue’s popularity in the first political test since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June,” the Washington Post reported on Aug. 2, 2022.

Holding Trump accountable for his illegal war on Iran

The devastating American and Israeli attacks have killed hundreds of Iranians, and the death toll continues to rise.

As independent media, what we do next matters a lot. It’s up to us to report the truth, demand accountability, and reckon with the consequences of U.S. militarism at this cataclysmic historical moment.

Trump may be an authoritarian, but he is not entirely invulnerable, nor are the elected officials who have given him pass after pass. We cannot let him believe for a second longer that he can get away with something this wildly illegal or recklessly dangerous without accountability.

We ask for your support as we carry out our media resistance to unchecked militarism. Please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation to Truthout.

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Morgan Chilson is an award-winning journalist who specializes in business and health care stories. She is passionate about breaking complex topics into engaging stories.

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