Kevan Myers, left, of Kansas City, Kansas, and Clifton Boje, of Bonner Springs, protest outside the House chamber ahead of the State of the Judiciary speech in January 2023. The Kansas Supreme Court in 2019 determined the Kansas Constitution’s right to bodily autonomy extends to the decision to terminate a pregnancy. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
More than half of state legislatures across the country started their 2024 legislative sessions in January, and plenty of abortion-related bills have already been introduced, especially in states where the procedure is already banned.
It can be difficult to monitor them all, so States Newsroom’s Reproductive Rights Today team will track certain bills that could become law in their respective states in a bi-weekly legislative roundup. Depending on the partisan makeup of a state’s legislature and other state government officials, some bills have a higher chance of passing and becoming law than others.
Kansas
Despite Kansas voters’ overwhelming rejection of abortion bans in a referendum shortly after the Dobbs decision in 2022, Kansas Reflector reported a near-total abortion ban bill introduced in the legislature in early January, House Bill 2492 . It’s opposed by both abortion rights supporters and opponents, including Kansans for Life, the main proponent of the “yes” side of the referendum. A spokesperson for that organization said legislators should focus on bills that stand a chance of becoming law.