You may have heard recently of an increased discussion about the connection between taxpayer-funded abortions and Medicaid Expansion. While some around the state Capitol in Topeka have claimed there isn’t a connection, there absolutely is. It’s something I’ve been talking about for months. Because of recent court rulings, passing the Value Them Both Amendment is absolutely necessary before any movement on Medicaid expansion can even be considered.
How could this happen? Aren’t there federal and state laws that prevent our tax dollars from funding abortion?
While it is true that the Hyde Amendment, a line that has been in every federal budget since 1976, does not allow federal Medicaid dollars to be used for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, it does nothing to protect state dollars from being used to fund abortion. Fortunately, Kansas also passed a law that applies similar restrictions to safeguard all our state dollars from funding abortion.
This law is however under grave threat from our Supreme Court. In last year’s Hodes & Nauser decision, the Court indicated by the nature of its ruling that this is the very type of law that would be struck down under the Court’s newly created constitutional right to abortion. We could lose this most basic safeguard that protects the conscience rights of every Kansan.
Even recent attempts by lawmakers to again codify the ban on taxpayer-funded abortion in Medicaid expansion are ultimately meaningless without Value Them Both given the Court’s reckless decree that abortion is a Constitutional right in Kansas.
There are already eight other states whose courts have required that they pay for abortions through Medicaid. In the two years after Alaska expanded Medicaid, the number of abortions paid for by Alaska taxpayers through state Medicaid services shot up 18%
The Value Them Both Constitutional amendment is vital to preserving the ability of the state to prevent Medicaid (and other taxpayer dollars) from funding abortion. The problem of taxpayer-funded abortion is only compounded by adding thousands to the rolls through Medicaid expansion. Bottom line – without passage of the Constitutional amendment, Kansans are one lawsuit away from taxpayer-funded abortion.
When you offer taxpayer-funded (free) abortions to more of the population – it makes sense that demand will go up.
This problem can still be solved with the simple passage of the Value Them Both Amendment so Kansas voters can decide for themselves.
We call on all members in the House and the Senate to pass the Value Them Both Amendment in order to protect all Kansans from being coerced to pay for abortions.
For Life,
Brittany Jones, Esq.
Director of Advocacy
P.S. If you would like me or another member of our team to speak on this topic in your church or civic group, send me an email!