SESSION OF 2024
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2749
As Amended by House Committee on Health
and Human Services
Brief*
HB 2749, as amended, would amend reporting
requirements for abortions performed in Kansas.
Reporting Requirements
The bill would provide for the written report of
pregnancies lawfully terminated to be submitted by medical
care facilities and persons licensed to practice medicine and
surgery to the Secretary of Health and Environment
(Secretary) on a biannual basis. [Note: Current law requires
facilities and providers to submit these reports on an annual
basis.]
Reporting Questions
The bill would require, except in the case of a medical
emergency, each patient to be asked, prior to the termination
of a pregnancy, to indicate the most important factor
regarding their reason for deciding to seek an abortion. The
bill would provide the following reasons as options to be
offered:
●Having a baby would interfere with the patient’s
education, employment, or career;
●The patient cannot afford a child;
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org ●The patient already has enough, or too many,
children;
●The patient’s husband or partner is abusive to the
patient or their children;
●The patient’s husband or partner wants the patient
to have an abortion;
●The patient does not have enough support from
family or others to raise a child;
●The pregnancy is the result of rape;
●The pregnancy is the result of incest;
●The pregnancy threatens the patient’s physical
health;
●The pregnancy threatens the patient’s mental or
emotional health; or
●The child would have a disability.
If the patient declines to answer, that response would be
recorded.
The bill would require each report to include, for the
period of time covered by the report:
●The number of times each of the reasons was
described as the most important; and
●The number of times a patient seeking an abortion
was asked about the reasons and declined to
answer.
Each report would also be required to include:
●The patient’s age in years on the patient’s last
birthday;
2- 2749 ●The patient’s marital status at the time of the
abortion;
●The state or U.S. territory of residence of the
patient or, if the patient is not a resident of the
United States, the patent’s country of residence;
●The patient’s race and, if applicable, the Hispanic
origin of the patient;
●The highest level of education completed by the
patient;
●Whether, in the last 30 days prior to the abortion,
the patient received services, financial assistance
(excluding financial assistance in obtaining an
abortion), or other assistance from a nonprofit
organization that supports pregnant women;
●Whether the patient reported having experienced
domestic violence in the 12 months prior to the
abortion;
●Whether the patient is living in a place that the
patient considers to be safe, stable, and affordable;
●Whether a report of physical, mental, or emotional
abuse or neglect was made where the patient was
the victim; and
●The method by which the abortion was performed
on the patient.
Confidentiality and Disclosure
The bill would extend the expiration of provisions related
to confidentiality and disclosure by one year to July 1, 2029,
unless the Legislature reviews and reenacts the provisions
prior to that date.
3- 2749 Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Reporting
The bill would provide for the public report on abortions
performed in Kansas issued by the Secretary to be released
on a biannual basis. The bill would also specify the report
would be issued no later than 30 days after the end of the
reporting period for the information contained in the report.
Severability
The bill would state that provisions in KSA 2023 Supp.
65-455 are severable; if any provision, phrase, or clause or its
application to any person or circumstance is found to be
invalid, the remaining provisions, phrases, or clauses would
remain effective.
Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Health and Human Services at the request of Representative
Bryce on behalf of Kansans for Life.
House Committee on Health and Human Services
In the House Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by representatives of Alliance Defending
Freedom, Kansas Family Voice, and Kansans for Life, who
stated several elements of the reporting information
requested in the bill are already being collected by the
Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), and
the data would help policymakers and organizations obtain a
better understanding of the reasons why women seek
abortions.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by a
representative of Kansas Catholic Conference and a private
citizen.
4- 2749 Opponent testimony was provided by representatives of
Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes and Trust Women
Foundation, who stated the bill would place an undue burden
on medical providers and women seeking abortions and
expressed concerns about increasing the stigma around
abortion.
Written-only opponent testimony was provided by
representatives of Loud Light Civic Action and Mainstream
and 18 private citizens.
No other testimony was provided.
The House Committee amended the bill to:
●Change references to “woman” to “patient”;
●Remove direction for the patient to rank the second
and third most important reasons for seeking an
abortion;
●Remove the requirement to include the number of
times each reason was indicated as the second or
third most important reason for seeking an abortion
in required reports;
●Remove the following factors from the survey:
○Having a baby would interfere with the
patient’s employment or career;
○The patient does not feel mature enough to
raise a child or, if applicable, an additional
child;
○The patient’s parent or parents want the
patient to have an abortion;
○The patient does not want others to know that
the patient had sexual intercourse or became
pregnant; and
5- 2749 ○The patient fears that the patient would
neglect or abuse an unwanted child.
Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, KDHE indicates
enactment of the bill would require additional expenditures
totaling $10,000, all from the State General Fund, in FY 2024.
This would be to add additional fields to the electronic
reporting system for abortion data. They agency states it
would need to work with the system vendor to determine a
timeline of when the changes would be completed. KDHE
would also need to update paper worksheets and additional
data fields would need to be analyzed and edited. The
agency notes amendments to KAR 28-56-2 would also be
required. The Office of Judicial Administrations states
enactment of the bill would not have a fiscal effect on the
Judicial Branch. Any fiscal effect associated with the bill is not
reflected in The FY 2025 Governor’s Budget Report.
Abortion; reporting; health; Secretary of Health and Environment
6- 2749