Legislature overrides vetoes on two abortion-related measures
Bills ease lawsuits against providers and shift compliance burden to state health department
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas lawmakers overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's vetoes Thursday on a pair of bills that expand legal exposure for abortion providers and add new state-produced paperwork requirements under the Woman's Right-to-Know Act.
HB 2727 passed the House 87-36 and the Senate 31-8. The bill allows plaintiffs in Right-to-Know Act lawsuits to cap their recovery and bypass the medical-malpractice screening panel, removing a procedural barrier that has historically slowed such cases.
HB 2729, approved on the same margins, requires the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to produce the standardized forms and notices that physicians must provide patients under the act. The requirement shifts the compliance burden from individual providers to the state agency.
The two bills form a coordinated package and represent the most significant legislative action on abortion policy in Kansas since voters rejected a constitutional amendment to remove abortion protections in August 2022. That referendum failed with 59% of voters opposing it in a state that has trended Republican in statewide races.
Both measures cleared the two-thirds override threshold in each chamber. Opponents argued the bills undermine the will expressed by voters in the 2022 referendum, while supporters said the measures strengthen informed-consent protections already in state law.
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