Last week, Governor Sam Brownback of Kansas signed into law a bill that severely limits women’s access to reproductive care.

Now, pharmacists can legally refuse to fill any prescription they think might be used to induce abortion.  That includes the morning after pill, birth control, and any number of other drugs that theoretically could be bad for an embryo.

But it gets worse.

Doctors don’t have to hep you get your medication, and they can refuse you treatment if it might risk the “life” of the embryo or fetus.  Including chemotherapy.

That’s right.  If you’re pregnant and have cancer, and you make the choice that your survival at that time is more important than the survival of your unborn child, you might be out of luck.  Doctors in Kansas are making that choice for you.  You just go ahead and let those tumors grow and spread, and of course once the baby is out- possibly nine months later- if there’s still a chance that you could make it… THEN maybe you should start up that chemo.

This is particularly insidious because early detection and treatment of cancer is frequently the difference between life and death.

So in the attempt to protect “life,” Kansas lawmakers are blatantly disregarding the lives of the women in their state.

Good job, Kansas.  I’m sure everyone in the state feels much better about their healthcare now.