Today, the Wichita Eagle Beacon provides the answers about how much money the state of Kansas is spending in fighting to maintain it's strict measures against abortion.
http://www.kansas.com/...
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas has paid private law firms slightly more than $1 million to defend anti-abortion law enacted during the past three years, the attorney general's office confirmed Wednesday.
The costs include $179,000 in attorneys' fees and expenses associated with federal and state lawsuit filed over restrictions enacted last year. Attorney General Derek Schmidt's office disclosed the figures exclusively at the request of The Associated Press as hundreds of abortion opponents rallied outside the Statehouse to mark the 41st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion across the nation.
Today, across the US, many states are finding their books being assessed in relation to how much money they are spending to fight the right to choose within their states.
"When you do the right thing, it costs you money," said state Rep. Allan Rothlisberg, a Grandview Plaza Republican and strong abortion opponent. "What price tag do you put on saving lives?"
Peter Brownlie, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, which performs abortions at a suburban Kansas City clinic, said the money could be better spent elsewhere.
"It's money that could be put to use addressing the real needs of Kansans for health care, education, economic development," Brownlie said.
Kansas isn't alone, though it is a heavy spender for it's population.
http://rhrealitycheck.org/...
The State of Texas has spent nearly $650,000 in taxpayer money underwriting state efforts to roll back abortion access over the past two years, according to public records obtained by RH Reality Check.
That’s the amount of money that the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) spent litigating three controversial state laws in 2012 and 2013, according to a breakdown of staff salary and travel expenses provided by the OAG. The breakdown includes a separate item simply called “abortion topic related,” which cost taxpayers just over $100,000 in the same period of time.
The total—$648,340.13, to be precise—represents another hefty taxpayer contribution to some states’ push against abortion access.
This pattern isn't new.. it's just the number keeps increasing. In November, the amount Kansas had spent was over $900. Now, it's likely over $1M, with more still waiting. South Dakota was forced into paying heav fees for their attempt.
http://www.reuters.com/...
Planned Parenthood was paid $623,000 in fees by South Dakota resulting from two challenges to abortion laws over a decade. This did not count the state's own attorney hours and resources, according to Jennifer O. Aulwes, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.
The state's Legislative Research Council estimated that the cost of defending a law passed in March requiring a three-day waiting period for an abortion could be between $1.7 and $4 million, according to executive director James Fry. South Dakota chose not to appeal a preliminary injunction.
Another South Dakota abortion law is before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A donation-funded "life protection" subfund to defend abortion laws has a balance of $63,387, according to Sara Rabern, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.
Because nothing says fiscal responsibility like burning tax payer money on a quixotic quest to overturn Roe.