To the House Federal and State Affairs Committee
In Support of HB 2319 Disclose Act
Barbara Saldivar, State Director of Concerned Women for America of Kansas
March 14, 2017
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee,
My name is Barbara Saldivar. I am the State Director of Concerned Women for America (CWA) of Kansas. CWA is the largest public policy women’s organization in the nation.
As an organization committed to the health and wellbeing of women, we support this bill requiring baseline data needed for a women to make an informed decision concerning the doctor who is to perform her abortion.
Because the current law requires that only the doctor’s name be given to the patient 30 minutes prior to the procedure, it is unrealistic for her to obtain adequate information about the doctor within that time period to make a decision as to whether that is the doctor she prefers. Therefore HB 2319 simply makes it mandatory that she be given information on paper about her potential doctor, within that same time block, so that she doesn’t have to go searching for it. Especially since, in most cases, she waits out that 30 minutes within the doctor’s office.
The patient is given basic information about the doctor, such as the year their medical degree was attained, date employment began, any disciplinary action that may have been taken by the Board of Healing Arts, carries malpractice, insurance, has hospital privileges and is a Kansas residence.
HB 2319 is common sense legislation. Legislation on which both sides of the abortion issue should have no problem agreeing. It acknowledges a woman’s right to have basic transparent information about her doctor at her fingertips so that she can make an informed decision that is best for her.
We ask you to vote “yes” on HB 2319. Thank you.