KANSAS PRO-LIFERS VOW TO OVERRIDE CLINIC STANDARDS VETO

TOPEKA, April 23, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed a bill sponsored by pro-lifers that imposed minimum safety and health standards on abortion clinics in the state. Under the bill, the state would have started regulating clinic supplies, equipment, lighting and ventilation, and ensure minimum sizes for interview rooms, bathrooms and dressing rooms. It also required that every clinic have a doctor as its medical director, a female staffer present during any procedure done by a male doctor, and have ultrasound equipment if it provides abortions after the 12th week.  Gov. Sebelius, a pro-abortion Democrat, said she agrees with the pro-abortionist position that the bill imposes onerous and unfair costs on such clinics, which can be cramped, dark and unsanitary as a result of attempts to maximize profits. She says the bill would increase clinic expenses and make abortions too costly for low-income women.  House Speaker Doug Mays, a Topeka Republican and a supporter of the bill, hopes to override the veto with a two-thirds vote. This is likely to succeed in the House, where the bill passed 87 to 33. But it will be more difficult in the Senate, where it passed by 24 to 16, while 27 votes are needed to override.  For newswire coverage:  https://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030422/ap_on_re_us/kansas_abortion_3   For related local coverage:  https://cjonline.com/stories/040403/leg_abortion.shtml