TOPEKA (KSNT) – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt released a new legal opinion on Friday regarding ectopic pregnancies and how they might be impacted by the “Value Them Both” amendment.
According to Schmidt, medical treatment for ectopic pregnancies or fetal demise is not ‘abortion’ under Kansas law. He says passage of the Value Them Both amendment, which is on the August 2 primary ballot, would not have any effect on ectopic pregnancies.
This legal opinion was requested on July 11 by State Representative John Eplee of Atchison. Schmidt also said passage of the amendment would, “not affect a physician’s ability to render care for ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, or fetal demise.”
The reasoning that Schmidt gave in his opinion for cases of miscarriage and fetal demise cites the Kansas statutes’ definition of abortion and notes that it excludes the removal of “a dead unborn child who died as the result of natural causes in utero, accidental trauma or a criminal assault on the pregnant woman or her unborn child.” Schmidt’s opinion goes on to say that the removal of a dead unborn child also would not “cause[] the premature termination of [a] pregnancy.”
In the case of ectopic pregnancies, Schmidt said that the term does not appear in any Kansas statute. However, the closest conclusion under Kansas statutes when addressing abortion is that the termination of an ectopic pregnancy does not constitute as an abortion. Schmidt also said that due to the life-threatening nature of an ectopic pregnancy, passage of Value Them Both would not impact a physician’s ability to provide care for ectopic pregnancies in any event.
To find and read Schmidt’s latest legal opinion, click here.
