By State Rep. DON HINEMAN
118th District, R-Dighton
Last week’s legislative activity was dominated by two topics, the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win, and abortion legislation. Legislative leadership cancelled legislative activities Wednesday so that members and staff could attend the Chiefs victory parade. The rest of the week was concentrated on the latter issue.
Last June, the Kansas Supreme Court issued a ruling which determined that women have a right to control their reproductive systems, in other words the court ruled that they have the right to decide on the grave and tragic matter of whether to have an abortion. This has triggered concern that some of the pro-life legislation passed by the Kansas legislature in recent years may at some point be found to be unconstitutional. In response, identical resolutions to amend the Kansas constitution were drafted in the Senate and House, reserving for the legislature the authority to regulate abortions. The Senate passed their version and sent it to the House, which this week had debate and final vote on the resolution. The resolution failed to achieve two-thirds affirmative votes, as constitutionally required. The measure fell four votes short, and I was one of those voting nay.
My 12-year legislative career has been marked by a strongly pro-life voting record. My nay vote on the resolution was difficult, but in my opinion necessary. We amend the constitution for only the most serious and grave matters. And that being so, I believe it is essential that proposals to amend the constitution must be put before the voters of Kansas in a November general election, when citizen participation is at its highest. The resolution defeated by the House on Friday would have placed the amendment on the August primary election ballot, when citizen participation is traditionally much lower than in the general election. There have been calls by the proponents of the amendment to “let the people decide”. I agree. This issue is so critical that it is indeed time to let the people decide. But that call appears rather insincere when the proponents of the resolution insist that it must be on the August primary ballot. Why should a subset of Kansas voters decide the matter for all, rather than the much larger population of Kansas voters who will participate in the November election?
This will not be the end of discussion. Options remain. In particular, the House version of the resolution is still alive in the House. It is my fervent hope that we House members will now amend the measure, so that the question is put before the voters in the November election. On an issue as unfortunately controversial as abortion is, maximum citizen participation is essential. Some might fear the outcome of that vote. I do not. This is Kansas, after all, and Kansans have always valued life. I have full confidence that the voters of this great state will again make that choice if we place the question before them in November.