To the editor:

The first step in making abortion safe for women is passing the Value Them Both amendment. On June 10, 2022, as reported by the media, an alliance of over 200 Kansas Medical and Mental Health Professionals issued a statement expressing support for the Value Them Both amendment. This group consists of more than 120 doctors, along with nurses, licensed psychotherapists and counselors. The spokesperson for the coalition, Dr. Lisa Gilbert, based in Kansas City, stated that they became aware that the unprecedented Kansas Supreme Court decision of 2019 removed the legal foundation for decades of bipartisan-passed, common-sense laws regulating abortion practices. The sweeping 2019 ruling was then used to strike down basic protections for women, including standard inspection, safety, and sanitation requirements for abortion facilities. 

The Value Them Both amendment does not limit abortion or make abortion illegal in the state of Kansas. In section 2 of The Value Them Both amendment, which will be voted on Aug. 2, 2022, it states that the amendment, 

“Would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion because there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require government funding of abortion”.

This amendment will allow our elected state legislators to pass reasonable laws to regulate the abortion industry. If the amendment does not pass many of the laws regulating abortion will be ruled unconstitutional by the Kansas state supreme court. How could laws, that have been passed years ago by the state Legislature, regulating the abortion industry be ruled unconstitutional? Some of these laws regulating abortion have been struck down and other laws will be struck down by our state courts, because in 2019 the majority of very liberal state supreme court justices ruled that the Kansas constitution guaranteed a woman the right to an abortion. The Kansas constitution does not mention any guaranteed abortion rights, but this incorrect ruling will be the law of the land unless the Value Them Both amendment passes on August 2. 

Since the 2019 state supreme court ruling, the number of abortions has risen by 17% and Kansas has become a destination state for abortions. Kansas has become an abortion-friendly state, much like the states of California and New York. For more information on this issue please visit the website valuethemboth.com. I urge all voters to vote yes on the Value Them Both amendment.

Rick Kile

Great Bend