Kansas' governor vetoes a bill for extending child support to fetuses

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ Democratic governor on Friday vetoed a bill aimed at ensuring that child support payments cover fetuses, a measure critics saw as a move by anti-abortion groups toward giving them the same rights as the mothers-to-be carrying them.

The measure scuttled by Gov. Laura Kelly was similar to a Georgia law and measures introduced in at least five other states, according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill-tracking software Plural. Supporters in the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature argued that they were trying to make sure that the costs associated with a pregnancy and a birth are covered.

But Kelly, a strong supporter of abortion rights, called the measure “a blatant attempt” by “extreme” lawmakers to control women and families’ private medical decisions. She also said it conflicts with the will of voters statewide, who affirmed abortion rights in August 2022 — three years after the Kansas Supreme Court declared that the state constitution protects access to abortion as part of a “fundamental” right to bodily autonomy.