The Catholic bishops of Kansas played a perhaps unwitting political role in the campaign for the Value Them Both Amendment (Amendment). Some Kansas Republicans want to accommodate abortion. A Kansas constitutional amendment which simply reversed Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt would permit state courts to enforce a legislative ban of abortion, at least after the United States Supreme Court cleared the field with Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Accommodationist Republicans therefore wanted a constitutional amendment which would not reverse Hodes & Nauser and yet would appear sufficiently pro-life to appease the base. It appears that someone, we do not know who, drafted the Amendment to meet the first requirement. It is unfortunately clear that Kansas bishops helped meet the second requirement. Their support made the Amendment appear pro-life when it really was not.
An example of the accommodationist view is Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s statement six days after the Amendment’s decisive defeat. The statement is remarkable for its adherence to the Amendment’s language notwithstanding the unpopularity of the measure. This adherence shows the Amendment was a carefully planned political strategy the Attorney General is not ready to abandon. It also shows his personal commitment to abortion. He apparently believes the state has jurisdiction over innocent human life and thus the power to hand the life of an unborn child to another person. He merely wants the second person not to exercise vigorously the right thus imputed. Accommodationist Republicans are, in other words, strongly committed to the power of the state and less committed to the rights of individuals.
Here is Attorney General Schmidt’s statement:
“Voters decided Kansas will continue to recognize a state constitutional right to abortion first identified in 2019. The people have spoken, and in our system of government, their decision must be respected.
“I am one of the thousands of Pro-Life Kansans who never have advocated for a ban. Kansas courts have made clear that the legislature cannot ban abortion.
“The Kansas constitutional amendment vote is now behind us, but the conversation about how to move forward within the boundaries the voters and courts have approved will continue. Kansas needs a governor who will listen carefully during this conversation as the people continue to sort this out. As with other difficult issues in our democracy, the people will show our state the way forward.
“As that conversation proceeds, I continue to believe the law must accommodate difficult situations such as those involving rape including child rape, incest, endangering the life of the mother, and when the child has a fatal condition that makes it impossible to survive outside the womb.
“Going forward, I will continue to do what I’ve done for years – defend commonsense regulations supported by a majority of Kansans such as the existing restrictions on late-term abortion and on taxpayer funding for abortion.
“Like most Kansans, I prefer a future with less abortion, not more. Governor Kelly supports unlimited abortion on demand up until birth, and with that, I strongly disagree.” [Ellipses omitted.]
What a tragedy it is that the bishops supported accommodationist Republicans. More significant than the waste of $4,442,172.00 contributed by the dioceses, parishes, and Catholic Conference of Kansas to the Value Them Both Association was the waste of the Church’s moral authority. Our bishops should hasten to acknowledge that the state lacks jurisdiction over innocent human life because such power is held by God alone.