Kansas House proposes 'life begins at conception' constitutional amendment
GOP-led committee advances measure to rewrite Bill of Rights four years after voters rejected abortion ban
TOPEKA — House Republicans Monday introduced a proposed constitutional amendment that would establish fetal personhood in the Kansas Bill of Rights.
HCR 5026, introduced by the Republican-led Committee on Federal and State Affairs, would amend Section 1 of the Bill of Rights to read: "All men and women are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life from conception, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The measure requires two-thirds approval from both chambers and majority voter approval at the November 2026 general election.
The GOP supermajority's latest attempt to restrict abortion access comes nearly four years after Kansas voters rejected a similar effort in August 2022, when they defeated a constitutional amendment that would have removed abortion protections from the state constitution. That measure failed by about 18 percentage points, with 59% voting no. Republicans hold an 88-37 advantage in the House, giving them the two-thirds majority needed to place the amendment on the ballot without Democratic support.
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