Kansas conservatives push to undo abortion rights ruling

(AP) Legislators against abortion in Kansas have launched a push to overturn a state Supreme Court decision that protects abortion rights.

Their efforts guarantee an election-year fight over amending the state constitution.

A legislative committee opened two days of hearings Tuesday on a ruling in April by the state’s highest court that access to abortion is a fundamental right under the Kansas Constitution.

The Republican-led committee is expected to urge the full, GOP-controlled Legislature to put a proposed constitutional change on the statewide ballot next year.

Anti-abortion groups and lawmakers don’t yet have a specific proposal. But if their effort succeeds, Kansas would be among a handful of states in which voters have added provisions to their state constitutions to declare that they don’t grant a right to an abortion.