Governor Sam Brownback likely to sign Kansas Abortion Bill

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback indicated that he is likely to sign the state's Abortion Bill,which includes a provision that would allow doctors to withhold information from patients.

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The Kansas Abortion Bill would exempt doctors from malpractice suits if they withheld medical information to prevent an abortion. The measure would also take away tax credits for abortion providers, remove tax deductions for the purchase of abortion-related insurance coverage and require women to hear the fetal heartbeat. The bill includes several provisions, which passed in other states and now face federal lawsuits. The bill would also require women be told about potential breast cancer risks from abortions, even though medical experts discount such a connection. 

Other provisions include requiring women to hear the fetal heartbeat prior to an abortion, taking away tax credits for abortion providers and removing tax deductions for abortion-related insurance. The bill also requires that women be told that abortions would increase the risk of breast cancer, a controversial theory that the World Health Organization, the National Cancer Institute and gynecological groups in the United States and the United Kingdom have said is incorrect. 

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires OB-GYN residents undergo abortion training. If the bill becomes law, UKMC would likely lose its accreditation. 

Lawmakers say they are working to change this particular provision. Medical residents can already opt out of the training on moral and religious grounds.

Brownback, speaking to The Huffington Post Monday following the National Governors Association meeting, said that while he has not read the 69-page bill, he is likely to sign the proposal since he opposes abortion rights. Brownback, a former U.S. senator, has signed several anti-abortion bills since he took office last year.

"I am pro-life," Brownback said. "When I campaigned I said that if a pro-life bill got to my desk, I will sign it. I am not backing away from that."

Brownback declined to discuss the specifics of the bill, reiterating that he has not studied the text. 

Yeah. That's right. He hasn't even read the bill, yet.