The Kansas state House voted yesterday to override Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson’s (D) veto on an anti-choice bill that would alter the definition of a viable fetus and require medical documentation for a late-term abortion if enacted. The state House had initially failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required to override the veto by just two votes on Friday. Yesterday, the body voted 86 to 35 in favor of the override, according to the Associated Press. The bill must still receive a two-thirds majority vote in the state Senate to override the governor’s veto. Current Kansas law considers a fetus to be viable outside the womb at the 21st week of pregnancy and states that an abortion is legal “as long as [the] fetus is not viable…and mother’s informed consent [is] obtained.” The law also states that “abortion of [a] viable fetus [is] permitted if [a] 2nd M.D. certifies that abortion is necessary to preserve life of mother or [if the] fetus has severe, life-threatening deformity or abnormality.” When he vetoed the legislation, Governor Parkinson said that the current law “strikes a reasonable balance on a very difficult issue,” reported the Capitol Journal. There have been no known late abortions in Kansas since the murder of Dr. George Tiller last year. Scott Roeder was convicted of the murder in March and sentenced to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
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