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TOPEKA —
Gov. Mark Parkinson made his first decision on an abortion issue Friday when he restored funding for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri that the Legislature had cut.
Parkinson struck language in a budget-balancing bill that would have taken $250,000 promised to Planned Parenthood and given it to state and local health departments and hospitals.
Parkinson previously had said his views on abortion were "very similar" to his predecessor, Kathleen Sebelius, an abortion-rights supporter who resigned last month to become U.S. secretary of health and human services. However, this was the first time Parkinson, who had been Sebelius' lieutenant governor, had acted on a bill related to abortion.
"Regardless of one's views on whether abortion should be allowed in the country, hopefully we can all agree that we should make every effort to prevent unplanned pregnancies. Access to affordable family planning services and contraceptives is critical if we are to continue reducing the number of abortions that occur in this state," Parkinson said in his veto message.
Planned Parenthood performs abortions at its clinic in Overland Park, a Kansas City suburb, but has said no state funds it receives go toward the procedures.
Anti-abortion groups said that didn't matter and that because of its abortion clinic, Planned Parenthood has a conflict of interest when it comes to preventing pregnancies.
"We were hoping he would be better than Kathleen Sebelius, but evidently he's not," said Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life. "It means the state will continue to give tax dollars to an organization to prevent pregnancy that stands to make money when they don't do that job."
Peter Brownlie, Planned Parenthood president and CEO, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
The money for Planned Parenthood was included in the original budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which starts July 1. But lawmakers later had trim that budget when revenues projections dropped.
That gave Sen. Tim Huelskamp, a Fowler Republican, a chance to add language to the budget-balancing bill to reroute the money. At the time, Huelskamp said he wanted to stop taxpayer-funded abortions.
Planned Parenthood has said the state funds go only to its clinics in Hays and Wichita, where no abortions are performed.
"Eliminating funding for programs intended to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies does nothing to help reduce abortions in Kansas," Parkinson said.
Gov. Mark Parkinson made his first decision on an abortion issue Friday when he restored funding for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri that the Legislature had cut.
Parkinson struck language in a budget-balancing bill that would have taken $250,000 promised to Planned Parenthood and given it to state and local health departments and hospitals.
Parkinson previously had said his views on abortion were "very similar" to his predecessor, Kathleen Sebelius, an abortion-rights supporter who resigned last month to become U.S. secretary of health and human services. However, this was the first time Parkinson, who had been Sebelius' lieutenant governor, had acted on a bill related to abortion.
"Regardless of one's views on whether abortion should be allowed in the country, hopefully we can all agree that we should make every effort to prevent unplanned pregnancies. Access to affordable family planning services and contraceptives is critical if we are to continue reducing the number of abortions that occur in this state," Parkinson said in his veto message.
Planned Parenthood performs abortions at its clinic in Overland Park, a Kansas City suburb, but has said no state funds it receives go toward the procedures.
Anti-abortion groups said that didn't matter and that because of its abortion clinic, Planned Parenthood has a conflict of interest when it comes to preventing pregnancies.
"We were hoping he would be better than Kathleen Sebelius, but evidently he's not," said Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life. "It means the state will continue to give tax dollars to an organization to prevent pregnancy that stands to make money when they don't do that job."
Peter Brownlie, Planned Parenthood president and CEO, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
The money for Planned Parenthood was included in the original budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which starts July 1. But lawmakers later had trim that budget when revenues projections dropped.
That gave Sen. Tim Huelskamp, a Fowler Republican, a chance to add language to the budget-balancing bill to reroute the money. At the time, Huelskamp said he wanted to stop taxpayer-funded abortions.
Planned Parenthood has said the state funds go only to its clinics in Hays and Wichita, where no abortions are performed.
"Eliminating funding for programs intended to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies does nothing to help reduce abortions in Kansas," Parkinson said.
The governor also said he was concerned the move would have violated the law by restricting the use of the money the state receives from the federal government for facilities that meet eligibility requirements.
But Culp said the legislation didn't block the money going to Planned Parenthood, just redirected it.
"It reprioritizes it. It doesn't break the rules," she said.
It's not the first abortion measure to make it to the governor's desk this year.
In March, Sebelius signed a bill ensuring that those seeking abortions are allowed to see ultrasound images or hear their fetus' heartbeat at least 30 minutes before the procedure. The bill, which takes effect July 1, also requires doctors to obtain a patient's informed consent before performing an abortion.
A few days before resigning, Sebelius vetoed a bill that would have increased the reporting requirements for doctors who perform late-term abortions and allowed lawsuits over potentially illegal procedures. That bill was directed at Dr. George Tiller, of Wichita, one of the few physicians who performs late-term abortions in the U.S.
The Senate failed to override the veto.
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Bill with spending cuts is Senate Sub for HB 2373.
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On the Net:
Kansas Legislature: http://www.kslegislature.org
Governor's Office: http://ksgovernor.org
Planned Parenthood: http://www.ppkm.org
Kansans for Life: http://www.kfl.org
