{"id":310613,"date":"2024-04-19T08:39:12","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T13:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=310613"},"modified":"2024-04-19T10:16:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T15:16:51","slug":"legislators-kansas-governor-veto-abortion-coercion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/legislators-kansas-governor-veto-abortion-coercion\/","title":{"rendered":"Legislators attempt to override Kansas governor’s veto of abortion coercion bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has vetoed legislation that could have protected women and teens from coerced abortions.<\/p>\n

According to Catholic News Agency<\/a>, she said she decided to veto it because she thought the language was too vague. There are enough votes to override the veto if most of the Republican members<\/a> of the state legislature vote for the override.<\/p>\n

The law would have made it a felony to coerce a pregnant woman “with the intent to compel such woman to obtain an abortion when such woman has expressed her desire to not obtain an abortion.” Coercion is defined to include abuse or threatening abuse of the legal system, extortion, physical restraint, physical threats, financial threats, and other coercive acts. Anyone who violates the law would face a year in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Studies have previously shown<\/a> that 64% of post-abortive women felt pressured to abort. At the same time, 67% received no counseling before undergoing the abortion. Often, mothers face pressure from parents, boyfriends, employers, and friends to undergo an abortion. Research\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0November 1, 2021, in the\u00a0journal<\/a> Obstetrics & Gynecology revealed that a leading cause of death among pregnant women is homicide. The study found that homicide during pregnancy \u201cexceeded all the leading causes of maternal mortality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Often, a pregnant woman is murdered when she refuses abortion. This is what happened to 17-year-old Breana Rouhselang<\/a>, who was murdered by her baby\u2019s father Aaron Trejo when she was six months pregnant because she waited to tell him about the pregnancy until it was too late to get an abortion. Therefore he said, \u201cI took action\u2026 I took her life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tassila Kenha, 24, was also\u00a0murdered<\/a> by her boyfriend after she refused an abortion. And 35-year-old Jennifer Irigoyen and her preborn child were murdered<\/a> by the baby\u2019s father as her neighbors heard her scream, \u201cHe\u2019s going to kill the baby.\u201d Stories like these are, tragically, increasingly common.<\/p>\n