Laura Kelly, Democratic Governor of the midwestern US state of Kansas, recently vetoed several pro-life bills passed by the Kansas legislature. However, the legislature voted to override her veto on these measures, allowing the three key bills to become law. They include a measure to mandate the provision of care to babies who survive an abortion, to prohibit abortionists from buying liability insurance from a state fund, and to require that abortionists provide women with information on abortion pill reversal medication.
Several of these issues have a strong resonance in an Irish context. Babies who have been born alive having survived an abortion must be provided with immediate care to try with every effort to save the life of the baby or at least provide palliative care in cases where survival is impossible. Moreover, the recent March for Life (1st May) heard the testimony of Amrita Kaur, who took the abortion reversal pill after regretting taking the first abortion pill. This allowed Amrita’s baby to be born.
This presents a victory for the pro-life movement in the United States in the complex political front opened up in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v Wade last year. In August 2022, Kansas unfortunately voted against a pro-life referendum; however, this recent measure shows that pro-lifers in the state are still committed to strengthening the rights of the unborn child. Jeanne Gawdun of Kansas for Life stated that state lawmakers had “stood together for compassion and basic human decency.”
(Credit: LiveAction)
