Kansas set to join Indiana in de-funding Planned Parenthood

Late last week, Kansas’ state legislature passed a bill that would ban insurance providers, both private and public, from offering coverage for abortion services. The legislature is also awaiting the governor’s signature on the state’s budget, which would cut about $300,000 in federal funding from Planned Parenthood–making it the second state to cut funding for Planned Parenthood.

According to Life News, the state budget would direct “over $300,000 in Title 10 money to local full-service health clinics instead of Planned Parenthood” and would place “$300,000 into the Stan Clark grant-matched fund for pregnancy support and adoption counseling.”

Kansas governor, Sam Brownback, is expected to sign both measures. Of all of the bills that have made it to his desk, Brownback has so far signed everyone restricting abortion access in the state.

Indiana’s governor signed a bill into law last week that de-funds Planned Parenthood. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood sought an injunction immediately after the bill was signed. The injunction was not granted.

Since measures to de-fund the chain of reproductive health clinics failed in the U.S. Capitol, state-level abortion regulations have been piling up nationwide. Both Indiana and Kansas have taken up the fight among anti-choice conservatives to remove public funds from Planned Parenthood after attempts failed in the U.S. legislature.

According to The Wichita Eagle, an official at a Kansas-Missouri affiliate of Planned Parenthood says the organization is “considering filing suit over Kansas legislation restricting private health insurance coverage of abortions.” The Eagle reports that Planned Parenthood believes “lawmakers violated their own rules in passing the bill in the session’s final hours.”