To the editor:
This letter is in response to Judy Duryee’s opinion published in the Great Bend Tribune on July 24, 2022. In our opinion, there were several points presented that were not factual. By her question, she implied that women whose infants suffered fetal demise would be forced to carry their babies to term. None of the laws that are currently in place by the Kansas Supreme Court decision or the Value Them Both Amendment would have any effect on women whose babies have already died in the womb. To make it clear, no mother would be forced to carry a baby that has suffered fetal demise.
The Kansas Supreme Court decision temporarily negated the Kansas abortion regulations that had been in place in Senate Bill 95 passed in 2015. She listed that Kansas already had abortion regulations in place. What she is misled in, is that the provisions of this bill are not being enforced due to the Kansas Supreme Court Ruling. A “Yes” vote for the Value Them Both Amendment would return these provisions. Without this amendment, Kansas would continue to have no limits on abortion. Since the Kansas Supreme Court ruling, abortions in Kansas have increased by 13%.
She stated that “If the yes vote passes this amendment and a woman has an abortion with complete agreement from her spouse/partner, she goes to jail but he does not.” This is a false statement, as neither would go to jail.
The Value Them Both Amendment does not ban abortion. It does ban taxpayer-funded abortions and dismemberment abortions. The treatment for an ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, or septic uterus is not an abortion. Please become informed on this amendment. The actual amendment reads as follows:
Because Kansans value both women and children, the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion. To the extent permitted by the constitution of the United States, the people, through their elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, laws that account for circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or circumstances of necessity to save the life of the mother.
Mel and Mary Waite
Ellinwood
