Topeka, Kan. -- A state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to life of every human being and ending the practice of abortion in Kansas has been prefiled in the state legislature.  Representative Randy Garber and 25 current co-sponsors will introduce the measure this session.  If passed, Kansas citizens can vote the measure into law in the next general election. 

Section 1 of the Kansas Bill of Rights recognizes that “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights” including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  The amendment will ensure that—regardless of one’s age--these rights are not denied to any person.

“Kansas has grown weary of the abortion debate,” said Personhood Kansas Committee Chairperson Bruce Garren.  “We come back, year after year, and fight about which children will enjoy the full protection of the law, and which will not, just so we can gear up every twelve months and do it all over again. The Kansas Personhood Amendment will put us all out of business.”

The amendment could present a challenge to the Roe v. Wade decision issued by the Supreme Court in 1973.  In the majority opinion, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote: "If this suggestion of personhood is established,” the case for abortion “collapses.”  The Court has also asserted on numerous occasions that states possess the "sovereign right to adopt in [their] Constitution[s] individual liberties more expansive than those conferred by the Federal Constitution.”  The amendment’s language takes note of the precedent.

Similar efforts are underway in states across the country.  Citizen-led initiatives are active in California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Arkansas, Ohio, and Florida.  Personhood legislation and amendments have also been introduced or passed by a legislative body in North Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia.

An amendment in Mississippi was defeated last November after the measure saw a 25 point drop in the days leading up to the vote.  Planned Parenthood chapters from around the nation contributed and spent over a million dollars spreading misinformation through the opposition campaign.  In their latest annual report, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America reported $487.4 million in federal tax funding.

“The Kansas Personhood Amendment is an opportunity to guarantee the basic human rights of every person, young or old, and end this battle, once and for all,” continued Garren.  “We have been dealing with this issue for too many years.  We’ve lost too many children. The people of Kansas deserve an opportunity to make our voices heard.”

A new Kansas abortion law will close one of the state's three remaining abortion facilities and is likely to force a second to discontinue providing surgical abortions. The Aid for Women clinic in Kansas City was denied a license by the state health department last week based on information obtained from their application, and the director of the second clinic in Overland Park was quoted saying, "We're doomed."

However, Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri President, Peter Brownlie, is optimistic following a 20-hour inspection of the organization's Overland Park location. “The findings of the inspection indicate we will be in full compliance with the abortion facility license regulations when they go into effect on July 1," stated Brownlie. “Thus, I believe we should be granted a license."

Personhood Kansas weighed in on the developments. "The legislature has passed every abortion regulation imaginable. No baby is safe from the grasp of the abortionists until the personhood of every human being is affirmed by law," explained Committee Chairperson, Bruce Garren.

Meanwhile, Mila Means, a family practitioner who has been training to perform abortions at the Aid for Women clinic, revealed plans last week to form a non-profit for the purposes of raising a million dollars and opening a new abortion facility in Wichita. "The requirements are not discouraging," she said. "There are so many redundancies that are not important for the woman's safety that are built into this bill specifically to deny access, and that really makes me angry. That probably reinforced my decision to keep working in this direction."

The Kansas National Organization for Women hosted an event described as a "community discussion" at an area church on Friday to kick off Mean's fundraising campaign. "I want people to know there are still those of us still going forward to try and keep this legal and safe procedure out there for the women who really need it," said Means. "I will continue to work on this as a goal." Pro-abortion author and panelist, Stephen Singular, chimed in, "It's time to start pushing back. I think it's the only thing the other side will understand."

Similarly, a law enacted last year in Nebraska that restricts abortion after 20 weeks based on the capacity of preborn children to feel pain forced notorious abortionist, Leroy Carhart, to leave the state for the less restrictive laws of Maryland. The move prompted Planned Parenthood of the Heartland to announce their intentions to open six new locations throughout the state.

"Laws that regulate abortion may temporarily disable the abortion industry, but they do not end it. Anyone with the resources to do so can and will continue to kill children in our state," continued Garren. "The people of Kansas deserve to have their voices heard, and we renew our call to recognize the God-given and inalienable rights of the preborn."

Personhood Kansas is a grassroots coalition of local pro-life citizens and organizations campaigning for an amendment to the Kansas Constitution recognizing the legal personhood rights of every human being.