Kansas lawmakers override governor's veto of bill protecting pregnancy centers

Last Friday, Kansas legislators overrode Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of House Bill 2635, the CARE Act, protecting more than 50 pregnancy centers in the state from the threat of being forced by government entities to act against their life-affirming mission.

Key Takeaways:

• HB 2635 prohibits state agencies and political subdivisions from forcing pro-life pregnancy centers to promote or provide abortions, or to hire personnel with beliefs contrary to the mission or pro-life ethics/operating procedures of those centers.

• HB 2635 also acknowledges the “life-affirming impact” of pro-life pregnancy centers across the state.

• The bill passed the House and Senate earlier in March, but Democratic Governor Laura Kelly vetoed it on March 27.

• Hours after Kelly’s veto, legislators overrode the veto, ensuring protections for pregnancy centers.

The Details:

HB 2635, the “Pregnancy Center Autonomy and Rights of Expression Act,” (CARE Act), ensures that private, nonprofit pregnancy centers and medical pregnancy centers across Kansas are free to offer assistance to mothers and babies without being forced by state entities to speak or act contrary to their pro-life mission. 

Under the new law:

• No state entity will be permitted to require a pregnancy center to advertise, offer, refer for, provide, or distribute abortion-inducing drugs or information about abortion

• No state entity will prohibit pregnancy centers from providing prenatal and postnatal resources including material resources, counseling, and medical services because the pregnancy centers “do not perform, refer, or counsel in favor of abortion or abortion-inducing drugs.”

• No state entity will be able to interfere with pregnancy centers’ staffing and hiring processes by requiring the centers to consider candidates or hire employees not in alignment and compliance with the centers’ mission, pro-life ethic, and operating procedures.

The bill was introduced by lawmakers in February 2026, following the request of Jeanne Gawdun on behalf of Kansans for Life. In March, the Bill passed both the House and the Senate and went to Gov. Kelly, who vetoed it on March 27.

In a move that has become familiar in Kansas politics, legislators overrode Kelly’s veto just hours later.

Zoom In:

In announcing her veto, Kelly made it clear that she saw the bill as an attempt to interfere with abortion.

“We shouldn't be spending tax dollars trying to interfere with that very personal, very private, medical decision,” Kelly said, according to the Kansas Reflector. “That’s why I’m vetoing this bill.”

However, the CARE Act does not undermine Kansas’ abortion law or a woman’s so-called “right” to an abortion under the law. The Act ensures that pregnancy centers can maintain autonomy and rights of expression in their provision of life-affirming services to women who choose those services.

Kansans for Life celebrated the CARE Act in a statement emailed to Live Action News:

"The Kansas Legislature wasted no time overriding Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of the CARE Act. Despite efforts by a pro-abortion governor and pro-abortion lawmakers to block it, Kansas will soon protect the more than 50 pregnancy centers across our state from government discrimination.

Kansans should remember who voted against these protections and went on record supporting government harassment of the pregnancy centers that provide women and families with real, tangible help. Kansans for Life thanks the pro-life legislators who stood strong and voted to protect these centers and the women they serve."

The CARE Act acknowledges the significant contributions of pregnancy centers across the state to Kansas families.

The bill states:

“The life-affirming impact of pregnancy centers and medical pregnancy centers on the women, men, children and the communities such centers serve is considerable and growing; pregnancy centers serve women with integrity and compassion in this state and across the United States; pregnancy centers provide comprehensive care to women and men facing unexpected pregnancies, including resources to meet the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual needs of such individuals..."

The Bottom Line:

Although Kansas has become a destination state for abortions, pro-life advocates and lawmakers have succeeded in passing life-affirming legislation and in securing millions of dollars in funding for pregnancy centers since 2022 through the Pregnancy Compassion Awareness Program.

The ongoing 2026 Legislative Session has multiple pro-life provisions on the agenda, including the CARE Act.