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HB 2009

Facilitating the use of dental records in missing person investigations.

2023-2024 Regular Session Introduced by Greg Cheney and 10 co-sponsors

HB 2009 bans abortion except to save a pregnant woman's life and lets private citizens sue violators, blocking state agencies from enforcement.

By resolution, returned to House Rules Committee for third reading.
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Bill Summary · HB 2009

Summary — HB 2009 (Introduced Jan. 22, 2025)

Title: Prohibiting abortion procedures except when necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman and providing a private cause of action for civil enforcement of such prohibition.

Purpose / Intent

HB 2009 would make it unlawful to perform or induce an abortion in Kansas except when necessary to preserve the pregnant woman’s life in a medical emergency. The bill also criminalizes provision of certain abortifacient drugs for that purpose and establishes a private civil enforcement mechanism (citizen suits) while expressly prohibiting state agencies and prosecutors from enforcing the prohibitions.

Key provisions

  • Prohibition: Makes it unlawful to knowingly perform, induce, attempt to perform or induce, or cause an abortion except to preserve the life of the pregnant woman in a medical emergency. (New Sec. 1)
  • Drugs: Prohibits manufacturing, distributing, prescribing, dispensing, selling or providing mifepristone, mifegyne, mifeperex or substantially similar abortifacients for the purpose of inducing an abortion in violation of the ban. (New Sec. 2)
  • Patient protections: No civil or criminal liability is imposed on the pregnant woman who undergoes an abortion. Misoprostol administration for miscarriage treatment is not prohibited. (New Sec. 3)
  • Enforcement — exclusive private cause of action:
    • State entities (state agencies, political subdivisions, county/district attorneys) are barred from enforcing the abortion prohibitions; enforcement is limited to private civil suits. (New Sec. 4)
    • Any person (with limited exceptions) may sue persons who violate the prohibitions or who knowingly aid or abet (including paying for an abortion). (New Sec. 5)
    • Remedies for prevailing plaintiffs: injunctive relief; statutory damages of not less than $10,000 per unlawful abortion or per prohibited drug violation; attorney’s fees and court costs. Defendants who prevail are not entitled to fees. (New Sec. 5(b))
    • Statute of limitations: 6 years from accrual. Certain defenses (e.g., mistake of law, woman’s consent) are expressly precluded; a narrow affirmative defense is provided where a defendant reasonably relied on a reasonable investigation that the physician complied with the law. (New Sec. 5(e)–(f))
    • Venue rules set for filing actions (county where events occurred, defendant residence, principal office, or plaintiff residence). (New Sec. 6)
  • Definitions and statutory updates: The bill adds/updates statutory definitions of “abortion” and related terms and repeals a large set of existing statutes related to abortion and reproductive services (long list in bill text).

Who would be affected

  • Physicians, clinics and other abortion providers (procedural and drug prohibitions).
  • Pharmacies, manufacturers and distributors of abortifacient drugs.
  • County and local health departments and clinics that provide family planning and Title X services.
  • Patients (pregnant women), particularly in rural/frontier areas with limited health-care access.
  • Insurers or third parties that pay for abortions.
  • State agencies (KDHE, Board of Healing Arts, Board of Pharmacy) and the judicial system (through civil cases).
  • Potential private plaintiffs (any person allowed to sue under the bill).

Fiscal and programmatic impacts (fiscal note highlights)

  • KDHE warns enactment could jeopardize federal Title X family‑planning funding — estimated at $2.9 million (FY2025), $3.5 million (FY2026), $4.1 million (FY2027). Loss would likely require state funds to maintain services and could also cause loss of 340B pharmacy pricing, increasing pharmaceutical costs for local health departments.
  • KDHE estimates additional state funding needs of about $301,842 tied to partial/full funding of up to 12.00 positions to maintain services.
  • Office of the Attorney General estimates increased litigation defense costs: ~$4.5 million (FY2026) and ~$512,672 (FY2027), funding to hire 2 attorneys and 2 legal assistants plus outside counsel and administrative costs.
  • Judicial Administration expects an increase in district‑court filings and workload (fiscal effect not precisely estimated); docket fees/fines from these suits would go to the State General Fund.
  • Other agencies (Board of Healing Arts, Board of Pharmacy, Department of Revenue, University of Kansas Medical Center) reported no or minimal fiscal impacts.

Procedural status / timeline

  • Introduced: Jan. 22, 2025.
  • Committee activity: Withdrawn from Committee on Health and Human Services and rereferred to Committee on Interstate Cooperation (most recent committee movement noted).
  • The bill’s language repeals numerous existing Kansas statutes governing abortion and related services; if enacted it would substantially reorganize statutory treatment of abortion in state law.

Notes / likely implications

  • The bill combines a near‑total abortion ban (with a narrow life‑saving exception) and an atypical enforcement model that delegates enforcement to private individuals (citizen‑suit model) while prohibiting government enforcement. That enforcement design is likely to generate substantial civil litigation and prompt constitutional and statutory legal challenges, which may underlie the Attorney General’s litigation cost estimate.
  • Loss of federal Title X funding and 340B status — if federal grantors determine services no longer meet program rules — is the primary fiscal/programmatic risk identified by KDHE, with disproportionate impacts on county and rural health providers.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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