Abortion industry setting its sights on Kansas

Chuck Weber holds up a card being used to help promote the Value Them Both amendment which will be on Kansas ballots Aug. 2, 2022. Weber spoke about the amendment at a Serra Club meeting Aug. 18 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita. (Advance photo)

Value Them Both amendment will be targeted

Chuck Weber warned Serra Club members that a great battle to defend the lives of the unborn in Kansas is looming.

“The state supreme court has said that we have, basically, unlimited and unregulated abortion in Kansas. That’s the law of the land in Kansas today according to the high court,” he said.

The Value Them Both Amendment, which will appear on the Aug. 2, 2022, election ballot, will be mercilessly attacked by the abortion industry, he said, adding that Catholics and other Christians throughout Kansas will need to unite to pass the amendment. It would be the 99th amendment to the state constitution – if approved by voters.

Weber, the executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, gave a brief history of abortion legal battles at the state and national level before talking about the state supreme court’s decision that essentially struck down all Kansas laws protecting the unborn.

Abortion constitutional in Kansas

“Pro-life laws are still on the books, but they are, in the words of the Kansas Supreme Court, ‘presumed unconstitutional,’” he said.

“Under this scenario, a 14-year-old girl can be dropped off at an abortion clinic in Kansas without parental consent,” he said. “This is why we need a state constitutional amendment which values them both, we value both mom and baby.”

Weber spoke to the Wichita Downtown Serra Club in the Marian Room of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at a luncheon Wednesday, Aug. 18.

“The amendment itself is abortion-neutral,” he said. “It just says that abortion is not a state constitutional right and that we’re not required to pay for taxpayer-funded abortions.”

Amendment needs simply majority

A simple majority on Aug. 2 is all that is needed to approve the amendment, he said.

The first challenge of getting the bill through the legislature to place the amendment questions on a ballot was met after a two-year struggle, Weber said. But the abortion industry, with its almost unlimited funding, will soon turn its sights on the state.

“Kansas will be right in the crosshairs of the abortion industry,” he said. “We believe that we’re going to be outspent at least three or four to one. They’re going to carpet bomb us. The abortion industry has unlimited funds and is going to carpet bomb us with scare tactics, with misinformation, with display ads, starting next spring.”

Weber said pro-life Christians across the state are planning to raise money to inform voters about how abortion is unregulated, that late-term abortions are legal even on healthy babies.

Spread the word

“Our strength is our ground game,” he said. “Catholics and other Christians in the pews. We’re asking every Catholic parish in the state of Kansas, every pro-life church, every church that cares about the life of a mother or baby to have a Value Them Both presentation,” he said.

A speaker’s bureau has been formed with doctors, lawyers, young women, and couples, Weber added, who are trained to talk about the amendment.

Other plans include requesting the assistance of Knights of Columbus councils and an extensive voter registration effort.

Kansas bishops strong backers

Weber said he recently spoke to one of the bishops of Kansas who had encountered overwhelming support for the amendment.

“Bishop I know that,” Weber replied, “but we need to get them to the polls. Our research shows that if we don’t get a big, big push in western Kansas in the rural areas, we’re going to lose this thing – our polling is very tight.”

Another challenge is making sure voters understand the wording of the question on the ballot so they know how to vote for the amendment.

“If you don’t know, your default button is no,” Weber said. “If you don’t get it, you’ll vote no.”
Weber said Bishop Carl A. Kemme has asked Fr. Bernard Gorges, the former pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Schulte, to travel throughout western Kansas to strengthen support for the Value Them Both amendment and educate about the need to vote.

“He’s on fire for this,” Weber said.

He closed his presentation to the Serrans by reminding them to pray for the amendment’s approval, especially through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas.