Senate Democrats’ attempt to protect IVF in Kansas voted down

TOPEKA — In-vitro fertilization in Kansas remains unprotected after a Democrat-driven measure to hear guardrail legislation on the Senate floor failed Tuesday.

Senators held a brief discussion of in-vitro fertilization after approving legislation that would force abortion providers to ask women a series of invasive questions before receiving an abortion. 

Immediately following the abortion measure’s passage — during which Republican senators opined on the “emptiness of abortion,” and characterized the procedure as one that “kills innocent children” — Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, tried to pull Senate Bill 554 out of committee for a floor debate. The measure would protect IVF treatments by declaring that “a fertilized human ovum or embryo existing outside the uterus of a human body shall not be considered an unborn child or human.”

“Women across this country are concerned and scared and they don’t know what is the future for their reproductive rights,” Sykes said. “This was one step in showing that the Kansas Legislature cares about women who have trouble getting pregnant and that we stand behind them, and we support their rights.”

Typically bills are passed out by committee approval before reaching the Senate floor, but lawmakers can also force bills to floor debate by gathering 24 votes approving the motion. During Tuesday’s debate, Sykes’ attempt failed on a 12-27 vote. 

Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, introduced SB 554 bill earlier this month in response to an Alabama Supreme Court decision that led to IVF providers stopping treatment in the state. 

IVF treatment involves retrieving a woman’s eggs and a man’s sperm and combining the two in a laboratory to create a fertilized embryo. In February, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were people with rights. The move is part of a wave of restrictions since the end of Roe v. Wade in 2022 rolled back abortion rights nationwide. 

While Kansas remains one of the few states in the region to protect abortion rights — allowing abortions up to 22 weeks after gestation and after that if the mother’s life is in danger — Kansas legislative Republicans continue to attempt to chip away at these protections. 

This campaign includes attempts to introduce the anti-abortion concept of “fetal personhood” into the state. Fetal personhood is the idea that life begins at the fertilization of an egg and that fetuses should be given legal rights and protections – similar logic to that of the Alabama Supreme Court.

House Bill 2653, which passed 83-40 in the House and is now under consideration by a Senate committee, would allow pregnant women to claim child support for medical and pregnancy-related expenses, starting any time after the date of conception. Under the bill, a fetus at any stage of gestation, including a fertilized egg, would be considered an “unborn child.” 

Holscher sounded the alarm on these sorts of bills. 

“For now, IVF remains safe and legal in Kansas,” Holscher said in a March announcement of SB 554. “But it’s hanging by a thread and Kansas Republicans are working hard to take away our rights. This bill would mark an important step in protecting the rights of families and safeguarding IVF.”