Wayne Briscoe for US Congress

Issues

Abortion

Abortion is an issue that has polarized the State of Kansas and the Nation for 37 years.

This is not an easy issue to address so before you stop reading, thinking I am one way or another on the issue please read the entire position statement. For background:

In the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman, in consultation with her physician, has a constitutionally protected right to choose abortion in the early stages of pregnancy—that is, before viability. In 1992, the Court upheld the basic right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. However, it also expanded the ability of the states to enact all but the most extreme restrictions on women’s access to abortion. The most common restrictions in effect are parental notification or consent requirements for minors, state-sponsored counseling, waiting periods, and limitations on public funding.

In Kansas, the following restrictions on abortion were in effect as of January 2008:

• The parent of a minor must be notified before an abortion is provided.
• A woman must receive state directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage her from having an abortion and then wait 24 hours prior to the procedure being provided.
• Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.

This is the law as it stands now.

Recently, May 3, 2010 the Kansas House of Representatives voted 86-35 to override Gov. Mark Parkinson’s veto of reporting regulations that will add a layer of accountability to late-term abortions by requiring them to report the specific diagnosis used to justify post viability abortions. Four House members abstained from the vote.
This pro-life victory sends the bill on to the Senate where 27 votes are needed to successfully complete the override. The Senate passed HB 2115, which had wide popular support, by a margin of 24-15, three votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to override.

My position is this: If the State of Kansas wants to engage in debating and legislating the issue, it is within their scope to do so. The will of the people, through their elected representatives, may amend the Rulings of Supreme Court up to the point where the Supreme Court has to rule again to decide the outcome. As a US Congressman, I believe that the only way that I can justify any action by the Federal Government on this issue is by a Constitutional Amendment to override the decision of the Supreme Court and it must then be ratified by the States for abortion to be abolished. Anything less will be struck down by the Supreme Court.

If I were to vote on whether or not the Constitutional Amendment should be sent for ratification I would vote yes.

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