Kansas providers challenge 'abortion survey' law

TOPEKA (KSNT) — Kansas abortion providers have filed a legal challenge to a new law that would require providers to ask patients why they're getting the procedure.

The law is set to take effect July 1. While anti-abortion advocates say it would provide better understanding of the reasons people seek abortions, abortion rights advocates argue that it violates patient privacy and jeopardizes provider-patient relationships.

“The decision to have an abortion is deeply personal—no one should be forced to tell the government why they are making that decision,” Alice Wang, staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a press release on Monday. “It’s frankly frightening that the state of Kansas is attempting to collect this type of private information, and unclear how it will be used. We are committed to protecting the privacy and constitutional rights of Kansans and people fleeing states where abortion is banned.”

Kansans overwhelmingly voted to uphold abortion rights in 2022. However, a host of abortion-related legislation was introduced this year.

Republican lawmakers passed House Bill 2749, overriding a veto from Governor Laura Kelly. In addition to asking patients why they're getting an abortion, doctors would also be required to report the information to the state on a biannual basis.

“The concept of gathering data to better understand abortion is a worthwhile endeavor,” Senator Mark Steffen, a Republican from Hutchinson, said during floor debates in the Senate in March. “What we do know about abortion is that it’s not the pathway to convenience or the pursuit of happiness, because the pursuit of happiness is not convenient, but rife with difficulties, like all great accomplishments, such as motherhood. Abortion is the pathway to a life of regret and emptiness… that I promise you.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood are asking the court to add this challenge to an ongoing case brought on behalf of Kansas abortion providers.

This case was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Arnold & Porter, Hunter Law Group, and Teresa Woody on behalf of plaintiffs Hodes & Nauser, M.D.s, P.A.; Traci Lynn Nauser, M.D.; Tristan Fowler, D.O.; and Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. 

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