Kansas Legislature completes override of Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of two abortion bills
Rep. Heather Meyer, D-Overland Park, appears April 9, 2026, on the House floor. She objected to the override of two abortion-related bills vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — The Kansas Legislature completed Thursday the process of assembling two-thirds majorities to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a pair of abortion regulation bills.
The House voted 87-36 and the Senate responded 31-8 to pass House Bill 2729 into law. It requires the Kansas Department of Health and Environment assume responsibility for producing standardized consent forms for individuals seeking to end a pregnancy.
Under the bill, documentation presented to women would include information on fetal development, risks of abortion and alternatives to the procedure. Controversially, information handed to women would include the discredited idea that a medication abortion could be “reversed.”
Members of the House and Senate, by the same margins, voted to override Kelly’s veto of House Bill 2727, which would allow plaintiffs alleging violation of informed consent laws tied to abortions to file lawsuits without first working through a medical malpractice board. Plaintiffs could sidestep the review board on condition claims were limited to $5,000 in damages as well as attorney fees and reimbursement for medical costs.
There was no back-and-forth debate in the House about the overrides, but Rep. Heather Meyer, D-Overland Park, said the bills could lead to additional litigation challenging the state’s abortion statutes.
Meyer said the bills were in conflict with the August 2022 statewide vote to reject an amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would have made it easier to regulate or prohibit abortion Kansas. In that vote, Kansans refused to nullify a Kansas Supreme Court decision that found the reference to “bodily autonomy” in the state’s Bill of Rights established an individual’s fundamental right to end a pregnancy.
“We need to respect peoples’ right to make their own medical decisions and provide them with accurate medical advice and knowledge,” Meyer said.
Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, told senators the bills made certain women considering an abortion received uniform messages from KDHE and had a less-onerous path with lawsuits associated with allegations a clinic or physician failed to abide by informed consent law.
In her veto message on HB 2729, Kelly said she was concerned the Legislature would require KDHE to put its name and credibility behind inaccurate guidance regarding abortion.
“This bill requires the state to put false medical information out that has no scientific basis and only serves to mislead women,” she said.
The governor’s veto message on HB 2727 renewed her objection to the state’s intrusion into lives of women by tipping the scales on lawsuits related to informed consent.
“This bill is another attempt by politicians to involve themselves in these private decisions, this time by trying to intimidate health care providers,” Kelly said.