Women for Kansas, Oct. 12, 2021 eNewsletter

 

October 12, 2021 MAJORITY OF AMERICANS EXPRESS DISSATISFACTION WITH DEMOCRACY, AND GERRYMANDERERS RACE TO THE BOTTOM Glen Altschuler, thehill.com Partisan political polarization is more entrenched, and the pillars of American democracy are less secure than they have been since the Civil War: 51 percent of Americans think it somewhat or very likely that within the next few years an election will be overturned because politicians are unhappy their party did not win. Despite an absence of evidence of widespread voter fraud, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming and Montana have restricted voter access since the election of 2020 by curtailing drop box usage, reducing the time to request and submit mail-in ballots, imposing new I.D. requirements, shortening early in-person voting, limiting the ability of third parties to return ballots, banning drive-through voting, and adding criminal penalties for individuals who assist voters. With the release of demographic data by the U.S. Census Bureau on Aug. 12, 2021, gerrymandering is taking center stage in the race to the bottom. Read more here. PANDORA PAPERS SHOW TAX CRACKDOWNS ARE NO MATCH FOR THE SUPERRICH Vivienne Walt, fortune.com Judging by the analysis of the mammoth Pandora Papers leak published across the world, it helps to be rich—immensely rich—if you want to hide your wealth from tax authorities. The documents show an almost endless amount of rampant tax avoidance by some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people. The blizzard of accounting records, photos, and emails reveals how billionaires, presidents, prime ministers, royals, and hundreds of politicians have funneled fortunes into property and other assets that are sheltered from the prying eyes of tax collectors through use of shell companies and trusts in offshore havens—all with the help of high-priced financial consultants and law firms. More here. JOURNALIST EXPLAINS IN 1 MINUTE WHAT’S IN THE “BUILD BACK BETTER” ACT The media has FAILED to explain what's actually in the Build Back Better Act. Mehdi Hasan just explained it in 60 seconds. Pass this on to spread the word. Watch here. PANDORA PAPERS: MASSIVE LEAK EXPOSES HOW ELITE SHIELD THEIR WEALTH & AVOID TAXES IN COLONIAL LEGACY Democracy Now, freespeech.org  “We’ve uncovered a system that benefits a few at the expense of the many,” says Ben Hallman, senior editor at the Intl. Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Watch here. OUR MOST VALUABLE LESSONS FROM THE PANDORA PAPERS Gary Kalman, thehill.com A consortium of journalists from dozens of countries have given us an even clearer picture of the architecture that props up a secretive and destructive financial system. The U.S. must act on this latest scandal to build on progress and put an end to the exploitation of offshore financial centers. More here. WOMEN FOR KANSAS Support our election work by making a donation of ANY amount to this 501(c)(4) nonprofit. You'll help with our continued effort to elect moderates to office in KS. This is our primary membership organization, providing support for our staff and advocacy activities. Our most flexible funding source, it is the best choice for donors. Donations are not tax deductible. WOMEN FOR KANSAS EDUCATION FOUNDATION A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, W4KEF engages in non-partisan, non-political educational activities on behalf of our shared values. Donations are tax deductible. Mail your check to: Women for Kansas (or) Women for Kansas-EF PO Box 8774, Wichita, KS 67208 Pay online with PayPal: Women for Kansas Membership & Election support, click here. W4KEF click here. (You are not required to have a PayPal account ). Visit womenforkansas.org for contact information and a calendar of events around Kansas. "NEWS WE CAN USE," THE SAME BUT... DIFFERENT The change in our News We Can Use format—from 3 columns to 2—was unexpected, disappointing, and beyond our control. Simply put: our provider changed the template. We have no choice but to use the one they now provide. The good news: there will be no change in the information you have come to expect; only the look is different. With a couple of issues, the original format will just be a memory. W4K HAS VIDEOS Throughout the year, W4K hosts informative events featuring remarkable speakers and you can watch anytime! Visit the Women for Kansas Youtube Channel for videos from W4K and our friends! KOCH NETWORK LURKS BEHIND SCHOOL MASK BATTLES, DESPITE SOOTHING NEW TONE AT TOP Clay Wirestone, kansasreflector.com Beware old villains who claim to have turned over a new leaf. Few forces in modern politics have been more villainous than the Wichita-based Koch network, a vast web of right-wing organizations battling environmental progress and eroding American democracy. Koch knows that history poses public relations problems as voters grow curious about dark money in politics. So last year we were treated to the spectacle of 85-year-old Charles Koch, the surviving politically active brother, saying he regretted deepening partisan divides. This year, the Koch network said it opposed banning education about our country’s racial history. Here’s the secret: These public statements are hogwash. Read more here. ‘SCHOOL CHOICE’ DEVELOPED AS A WAY TO PROTECT SEGREGATION AND ABOLISH PUBLIC SCHOOLS Nancy MacLean, washingtonpost.com The year 2021 has proved a landmark for the “school choice” cause — a movement committed to the idea of providing public money for parents to use to pay for private schooling. The history behind vouchers reveals that the rhetoric of “choice” and “freedom” stands in stark contrast to the real goals sought by conservative and libertarian advocates. The system they dream of would produce staggering inequalities, far more severe than the disparities that already exist today. Read more here. UNKOCH MY CAMPUS Our newest report, “The Koch Network and the Capture of K-12 Education,” demon-strates how the Koch network methodically works to capture and privatize public education for its own gain. More here. NATL FARM TO SCHOOL MONTH October is National Farm to School Month. You can celebrate by joining the KS State Dept. of Education and the Mountain and Plains Region for their Annual Crunch Off or learn more about how you can promote local foods in schools and your community! More information here. WHERE AMERICANS STAND ON ABORTION RESTRICTIONS AS SUPREME COURT TERM OPENS Chloe Jones, pbs.org The type of anti-abortion law enacted by the state of Texas is deeply unpopular with Americans, according to a new poll from the PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist. Around the nation, thousands of people, many of whom were motivated by the Texas law, joined a Women’s March on Saturday to protest abortion restrictions and urge the Supreme Court to uphold Roe v. Wade.  “No matter where you live, no matter where you are, this moment is dark,” Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson told a crowd at the “Rally for Abortion Justice” event. More here. HIGH SCHOOL VALEDICTORIAN SWAPS SPEECH TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST ABORTION LAW "We have spent our entire lives working towards our future. Without our input, or our consent, our control over that future has been stripped away from us. I am terrified that if my contraceptives fail... if I am raped... then my hopes and aspirations and dreams for my future will no longer matter. I hope you can feel how gut wrenching that is. I hope you can feel how dehumanizing it is to have the autonomy over your own body taken from you." Paxton Smith, 2021 Valedictorian, Lake Highlands High School. Watch here. REP. DAVIDS: WHEN WOMEN ARE INCLUDED IN THE POLICY MAKING, THE OUTCOMES ARE BETTER Ali Velshi, msnbc.com Davids also discusses the importance of the House Select Committee’s Jan. 6th investigation and the intersectionality of Indigenous Peoples’ Day and National Coming Out day occurring at the same time Watch here. FEDERAL APPEALS COURT TEMPORARILY REINSTATES TEXAS’ 6-WEEK ABORTION BAN Ashley Lopez, npr.org The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down a lower federal court ruling that temporarily blocked Texas from enforcing its ban on abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Read more here. THE TOP DOJ CIVIL RIGHTS OFFICIAL URGED SENATORS TO RESTORE VOTING RIGHTS ACT Juana Summers, npr.org A top Justice Department official described voting discrimination as "a current-day problem" and urged Congress to move quickly to strengthen a landmark civil rights-era voting law. "I am here today to sound an alarm. For the Justice Department, restoring and strengthening the Voting Rights Act is a matter of great urgency," said Kristen Clarke, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights division. Warnock said that he believed as Lewis did, that voting is "a sacred undertaking." Read more here. NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS ACT SEEKS TO THWART SUPPRESSION EFFORTS The Cross Connection, msnbc.com The Native American Voting Rights Act appears to have bipartisan support. If passed, the bill would make it easier for Native Americans to cast their ballots, especially on tribal land. Congresswoman Sharice Davids and Jacqueline De León join Tiffany Cross to discuss. Watch here. THE IMMINENT IMPACT OF REDISTRICTING: SHARPER PARTISAN ELBOWS, LESS COMPROMISE BY BOTH SIDES IN THE HOUSE Colby Itkowitz, washingtonpost.com Redistricting is just getting started, but the first maps released suggest a coming decade of even more deeply entrenched partisanship. “If you draw a district that’s safe, the party no longer cares about recruiting a broadly appealing candidate,” said David Wasserman. Read more here. KANSAS LAWMAKERS WANT TO CHALLENGE A COVID-19 VACCINE POLICY THAT DOESN’T EXIST YET Kansas News Service, kansaspublicradio.org Republicans in the state’s congressional delegation are also mounting several legislative challenges, and the state’s Republican attorney general has sworn he’ll challenge the policy. However, there’s one very large problem: the fine print of the policy mandating employers with more than 100 employees to require vaccinations or regular testing doesn’t exist yet. Read more here. HERE’S WHERE GIRL SCOUTS FROM KC AREA CREATED ARTWORK MEMORIALIZING COVID VICTIMS Beth Lipoff, kansascity.com You might be used to poppies for remembrance. Now a different scarlet flower is filling the windows of Crown Center’s atrium for the same purpose, courtesy of the Girl Scouts. “A lot of our Girl Scout families have been impacted by COVID. It’s a way to mourn and show they care,” said Tracy Hull, Girl Scouts of NE Kansas and NW Missouri. Read more here. POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY CAN SERVE AS AN EXAMPLE FOR GOVERNMENTS: TAKE CYBERSECURITY SERIOUSLY The Editorial Advisory Board, cjonline.com Did you know U.S. state and local government agencies, health care facilities and schools were impacted by cyberattacks in 2020? Some happened right here in Kansas. In the ever changing landscape of this ever more digital world, we need to think about how critical cybersecurity is. Read more here. GOV. ACTED TO PROTECT KANSAS CHILDREN. KSLEG SHOULD WORK TO STRENGTHEN HER EXECUTIVE ORDER Natalie Zarate and Grey Endres, cjonline.com Strengthen Families Rebuild Hope applauds Gov. Kelly's executive action to create the Division of the Child Advocate. More here. KANSAS SENATOR “DOC” MARSHALL STRADDLES LINE BETWEEN MED., POLITICS Associated Press, kmuw.org Roger Marshall won't let people forget he's a doctor. But when he talks about COVID-19 vaccines, some doctors and experts say the KS Republican sounds far more like a politician than a physician. Read more here. Political moderates are not tied to a single ideology or ideological extremes in making public policy; they prefer making progress through incremental adjustments rather than radical change. Political moderates are willing to listen to diverse points of view and solve problems through compromise or finding middle ground. “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH”: YOUTH CLIMATE ACTIVISTS SLAM POLITICAL INACTION AT U.N. SUMMITED AHEAD OF COP26 Free Speech TV, freespeech.org Thousands of youth climate activists marched demanding world leaders meet their pledges to the Paris Climate Agreement and keep global temperatures from rising.  “Historically, Africa is responsible for only 3% of global emissions,” said Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate.  “And yet Africans are already suffering some of the most brutal impacts fueled by the climate crisis.” Swedish activist Greta Thunberg mocked the jargon politicians use to talk about climate and the environment. “Net zero, blah, blah, blah. Climate neutral, blah, blah, blah. This is all we hear from our so-called leaders: words — words that sound great but so far has led to no action,” said Thunberg. “Our hopes and dreams drown in their empty words and promises.” Watch here. LETTER TO THE EDITOR: CLIMATE CRISIS ACTION NEEDED Tony Schmidt, Lawrence; ljworld.com Consider taking an interest in the infrastructure bill and the accompanying reconciliation. Study them. More here. 20 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT 20 YEARS OF KS WIND FARMING Brian Grimmett, KNS; lawrencekstimes.com From the total power KS wind generates to the county with the most turbines, here’s 20 interesting facts about Kansas wind. Read more here. GOODBYE, COLUMBUS? HERE’S WHAT INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ DAY MEANS TO NATIVE AMERICANS Emma Bowman, npr.org This year marks the first time a U.S. president has officially recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day. Indigenous Peoples' Day advocates say the recognition helps correct a "whitewashed" American history that has glorified Europeans like Italian explorer Christopher Columbus who have committed violence against Indigenous communities. Native Americans have long criticized the inaccuracies and harmful narratives of Columbus' legacy that credited him with his "discovery" of the Americas. Read more here. SAIL AWAY, COLUMBUS Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Facebook.com Full Frontal sits down with U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for a "painful but necessary discussion" of why we should replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. Once again, we are reminding everyone that Columbus Day shouldn’t even be a thing. Warning: Some strong language. Watch here. DEMOCRACY ON TAP: TRUST IN DEMOCRACY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 5PM Join us for this month’s Digital Democracy on Tap where we will be discussing voting practices, legislative involvement, redistricting, and oversight that are inherent to our democracy. Watch on Facebook Live or at engageict.org. HOW TO TALK ABOUT ABORTION AND FAITH THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14 Virtual event After the Rally For Abortion Justice, Women's March and Auburn Seminary are partnering to host a conversation about faith and abortion. We will be exploring two fundamental questions for our time: How do we tell a different story about abortion and faith? How do we talk to other people of faith about abortion? More here. PAYDAY LOAN REFORM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 7-8PM A Facebook Live Event You're invited to a series of conversations on the most pressing social, economic, and climate justice issues facing Kansans. More dates: Mon, 10/25 - Racial Justice   Thurs, 10/28 - Medicaid Expansion Thurs, 11/4 - Economic Justice Thurs, 11/11 - Voting Rights+  We hope you will join us and help us spread the word to put faith into action together. More info here. DIVERSITY & INCLUSION SUMMIT THURS, OCT 14, 12PM Sponsors: Gilead Sciences, The Rockefeller Foundation How are Americans prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels of society to build pathways to opportunity for younger generations? Reg. here. HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH THROUGH FRI, OCT 15 #HispanicHeritageMonth is only for one month, we are grateful each and every day for those who have proudly chosen to serve our nation. Watch here. VISIONS OF A RESILIENT KANSAS: ENERGY JUSTICE FOR ALL OCTOBER 19, 6-8PM Join the celebration. Tickets available here. 40TH ANNUAL WICHITA ASIAN FESTIVAL SAT, OCTOBER 23, 5PM Century II Performing Arts & Conv. Center, 225 W Douglas Ave., Wichita The event is FREE and open to the public. More information here. WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH US POLITICS WEDNESDAYS, THRU NOV 3, 4PM The Dole Institute and on Dole Institute YouTube channel. How will fake news, black women, Presidents 45 and 46, and protests affect politics in 2022? More information here. MIRACLE ON KANSAS AVENUE, WINTER WONDERLAND, WING FLING, ZOO LIGHTS AMONG TOPEKA’S ANNUAL EVENTS As we prepare for the holidays, we've been wondering about some of Topeka's well-known events and their status. This list includes upcoming fall and winter events, so you can attend them all. Read more here. Helping navigate the confusion of politics today, these 'clickable links' can help answer many of the questions you may have about voting, the legislature, AND the facts. ACLU ACLU-KS Alec Exposed Ask a Librarian Ballotpedia Democracy on Tap Emilys List Expandkancare.com Fact Check icivics Indivisible.org IWillVote.com KS Appleseed KS Health Institute Kansas NAACP Kansas Rural Center Kansas-Secretary of State KSVotes.org League of Women Voters-Johnson Co. League of Women Voters-Kansas League of Women Voters-Wichita Let People Vote-KS Loud Light Mainstream Coalition NAACP-Wichita Open Secrets: KS Donors Open States Politifact Secure our Vote Sierra Club-KS Silver Haired Legislature-KS The Active Age Vote411.org VOTE.org Vote Save America Vote Smart votolatino.org WOMEN FOR KANSAS womenforkansas@gmail.com womenforkansas.org Connect with us

Morning eNewsletter Kansas Reflector, Oct. 3, 2021

 

Morning newsletter of the Kansas Reflector

Sherman Smith | Editor in chief Good morning. "Our bodies are not here as an object to be controlled. Our bodies are not here to satisfy someone else’s need for power. Our bodies are ours and ours alone. All bodies are good bodies. All bodies deserve full and complete autonomy." — Megan Hartford, who organized a march in Manhattan as part of the nationwide Rally to Defend Abortion Rights

Dispatch from America: Life, death, and a grim milestone Opinion from Max McCoy: TOPEKA, United States — In this capital city deep in the American interior, life continues despite a pandemic that has killed 1 of every 500 Kansans. Residents drink at quaint pubs with brews named for long-lost steam locomotives, return in person to college classrooms empty for 18 months and carry on with wedding plans that were once derailed. But just a month ago, the governor of this state took to social media to urge Kansans to get vaccinated against a virus that had filled the capital city’s largest hospital and overwhelmed its emergency department. Medical staff and other front-line workers are suffering the kind of deep fatigue typically seen only in war zones. The enemy is COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that emerged in December 2019. The virus has claimed more than 6,000 victims in this predominantly rural region known for its wheatfields and sunflower patches, a state that most outsiders still associate with the 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” Aiding the infection is a populist cultural movement that is skeptical of medical science, prizes the personal freedom to make bad choices and put others at risk, and regards members of the minority party — not the coronavirus — as the real threat. This is flyover country. Most people only get a glimpse of it from 30,000 feet or as a blur through a car windshield while zipping along the interstate at 75 mph. But stop and talk to some of the people here, and you may see the flinty individualism that has been passed down from frontier times. The motto of this state is a Latin phrase that translates, “To the stars through difficulty.” While there has been plenty of difficulty for Kansans in the past year and a half, there have been precious few stars. Read more.

‘Our bodies are ours and ours alone’: Women across Kansas march to defend abortion rights Kansans marched Saturday in defense of abortion rights in cities statewide in coordination with a national response to attacks on women’s reproductive rights. Read more.

Tiny rally at Kansas Capitol seeks big change in treatment of Jan. 6 ‘political prisoners’ A handful of people showed up at the Kansas statehouse to make a case Saturday that federal prosecutors were unfair to hundreds of Jan. 6 insurrectionists who breached the national Capitol building while contesting the election loss of President Donald Trump. Read more.

Why there’s such an impasse in Congress: Some questions and answers Congress may have kept the federal government operating with an 11th-hour flurry of votes on Thursday, but several key pieces of the Democratic agenda remain in limbo. Read more.

Support one-of-a-kind Kansas journalism  with a tax-deductible donation to the Reflector. Help us grow

Jefferson County's "Grim Chieftain" Jim Lane's controversial place in history commemorated as KU's oldest

[Excerpt]The oldest building on the University of Kansas campus now has a bronze plaque noting its history, though the plaque isn’t planned to be mounted in a place passersby can see.

The marker presents a brief story of the small stone stable in the hillside at 1132 W. 11th St., now an annex for KU’s Max Kade Center for German-American Studies. That history starts with the fiery Civil War-era abolitionist who first built the stable on his land in 1862, and includes how he contributed to the early propagation of the term Jayhawk before it was adopted as the KU mascot.

The plaque’s inscription includes this little-known quote by James H. Lane, who said while rallying a group of Free-State men in 1857:

“As the Irish Jayhawk with a shrill cry announces its presence to its victims, so must you notify the proslavery hell-hounds to clear out, or vengeance will overtake them! Jayhawks remember, ‘Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord,’ but we are His agents!” [End]

Read more, view the building, click here.

Op - Ed Clay Wirestone: DISINFORMATION CAUCUS OF KANSAS GOP SPREADS DANGEROUS FALSEHOODS @ Kansas Reflector

"Unwelcome Return", eNewsletter, Kansas Insider

 

FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2021 COVID's back After a long, steady drop in COVID case numbers, the pandemic has taken a turn for the worse. Positive cases and hospitalizations are climbing again in Kansas. Now, the contagious delta variant, and a lack of people who are vaccinated, are bringing Kansas back to a situation not seen since early this year. Health experts continue to urge people to get the COVID vaccine. The Kansas News Service’s Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on the skyrocketing numbers. "These are just heroic vaccines." — Vaughn Cooper, from the University of Pittsburgh, on the positive impact of getting the COVID vaccine. Who can order masks? Who can tell you to mask up in Kansas? There's no easy answer. School districts and government officials are once again looking at mask requirements as COVID cases rise. Kansas lawmakers approved a bill earlier this year that clamped down on the ability of the governor and local governments to respond to the pandemic, but then a court struck that law down. The issue is now on appeal. Abigail Censky of the Kansas News Service reports on the legal limbo. Electric farm truck There’s good reason a Chevy Bolt EV, Tesla or electric Ford F-150 could show up in the farm store parking lot next to a line of gas and diesel trucks. Rural areas of Kansas are a good fit for electric vehicles because the longer distances driven by residents mean more savings compared to internal combustion vehicles. But as Brian Grimmett of the Kansas News Service reports, there are some obstacles to rural EV adoption. No more MD A Johnson County doctor surrendered his medical license after pleading guilty to asking drug companies for kickbacks. Dr. Steven M. Simon admitted that in 2017 he told a drug company that he would stop prescribing the company’s drugs unless the manufacturer paid him for speaking engagements. Simon got more than $1 million from drug companies, according to records. Dan Margolies reports for KCUR on the developments. Over the next few weeks, we'll be introducing our readers to members of the Kansas News Service team.  Meet Abigail Censky "I joined the Kansas News Service as the Politics Correspondent earlier this year. It’s my job to bring what’s going on in statewide politics to our audience in a way that’s clear, thought-provoking, and hopefully not headache-inducing. "That could mean covering the daily grind of the legislature in Topeka or traveling across Kansas to speak with people who are being impacted by policies. "When I’m not working, I prefer to be far away from my phone, basking in the sunshine with my partner and my senior dog." Find more of Abigail's work here, and follow her on Twitter @AbigailCensky. Enjoying The Insider? Share with a friend. Have comments or questions for the editor? Let us know what you think. Not an Insider subscriber? Sign up now. Subscribe

Loud Light Suspends Voter Registration Due to New Voter Suppression Law

Tim Carpenter: Influx of Texas, Oklahoma residents seeking an abortion drives up Kansas total in 2020 @ Kansas Reflector

 

Influx of Texas, Oklahoma residents seeking an abortion drives up Kansas total in 2020

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
June 1, 2021

TOPEKA — A surge in out-of-state residents seeking abortions in Kansas last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic moved incidence of the procedure to a level comparable to 2012 and 2013 when Republican Gov. Sam Brownback was signing bills and championing regulations to curtail access to abortion.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly kept abortion clinics in Kansas open during the pandemic by deeming the facilities essential to public health. Temporary closure of abortion clinics in nearby states factored in a rise of 626 abortions in Kansas during 2020. The state’s total of 7,542 represented an increase of 9%.

Documented abortions in Kansas tend to be divided between in-state and out-of-state women, but that trend was broken in 2020. Abortions among residents of Kansas climbed 2.7%, while the number for out-of-staters shot up 15%.

Statistics from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment indicated the increase in Kansas was linked to services provided to patients from four nearby states. Key contributors to Kansas’ influx: Texas, up from 25 abortions in 2019 to 289 abortions in 2020; Oklahoma, up from 85 to 277; and Arkansas, up from 40 to 74. The number of Missouri residents obtaining an abortion in Kansas climbed by 23, pushing that annual total to 3,201.

Jeff Colyer, an Overland Park physician campaigning for the GOP nomination for governor in 2022, said the 9% expansion of abortions reported by KDHE was a consequence of Kelly’s decision not to shutter abortion clinics in the pandemic.

“There is only one person to blame,” Colyer said. “This is the direct result of Laura Kelly declaring abortion clinics essential even while she was closing churches, schools and small businesses.”

Kelly issued detailed executive orders declaring hospitals and other businesses essential. She decided certain business operators, such as barbers and hairdressers, had to close in an attempt to thwart spread of COVID-19. Her directive restricting mass gatherings at churches was blocked after the filing of a lawsuit. Public school instruction statewide transitioned, with a few exceptions, to an online format.

A spokeswoman for Kelly said Tuesday the governor wouldn’t have a comment about the new KDHE report on abortion. Kelly is a candidate for re-election in 2022.

“Abortion is time-sensitive, essential health care,” said Rachel Sweet, regional director of public policy at Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “Decisions about whether to end a pregnancy are deeply personal and should be left to a woman in consultation with her health care provider — not politicians.”

Under Brownback, KDHE records show, the number of abortions in Kansas declined in six of seven years that he served as governor. The overall total fell from 8,373 in 2010 to 6,826 in 2017 while Brownback was the state’s governor.

Following Brownback’s resignation, Colyer served as governor from Jan. 31, 2018, to Jan. 14, 2019. During 2018, KDHE said, abortions in Kansas increased by 222 to 7,048. More than half — 122 — of that surge came from out-of-state women.

During Kelly’s first year in office in 2019, abortions declined by 132 to 6,916 before expanding in 2020 to 7,542. The preliminary count for 2020 fell between Brownback-era totals of 7,598 in 2012 and 7,485 in 2013.

In August 2022, Kansans have an opportunity to vote on a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution on the issue of abortion. Passage of the amendment, labeled Value Them Both by proponents, would reverse a 2019 decision by the Kansas Supreme Court that the state constitution’s Bill of Rights protects a woman’s right to an abortion.

The state’s highest court referenced a section in the state’s Bill of Rights declaring “all men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

The justices then wrote: “We are now asked: Is this declaration of rights more than an idealized aspiration? And, if so, do the substantive rights include a woman’s right to make decisions about her body, including the decision whether to continue her pregnancy? We answer these questions, ‘Yes.'”

Kansans for Life, a lobbying organization that waged a two-year struggle to secure the Legislature’s endorsement of the proposed abortion amendment, referred to the 9% increase in Kansas as “disturbing.”

Danielle Underwood, spokeswoman for KFL, said governors of Texas and Oklahoma declared elective medical procedures, including abortion, not essential and prohibited them to protect medical personnel from unnecessary exposure to COVID-19 and to conserve medical supplies.

Underwood said in a statement Kelly’s leadership during a year of expanded reliance on abortion meant the governor should now be called the “abortion industry governor.” The KFL statement didn’t address one-year increases in Kansas abortions that transpired while Brownback and Colyer served as governor.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news outlets supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.