KC Council approves measure that could provide $300 travel stipend for city workers seeking an abortion

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Kansas City Council on Thursday approved an ordinance that could pay city workers to travel across the state if they need to get an abortion.

The ordinance is a move that allows the city manager to begin discussions and negotiations with the city’s health care providers.

The stipend would pay city employees up to $300 for those who need to travel outside of the state.

“The real story here is we’re making sure there’s still that access to care,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said.

The council also approved a resolution that declared reproductive rights as human rights.

The full resolution:

RESOLUTION NO. 220575

RESOLUTION - Declaring reproductive rights are fundamental human rights and criminalizing access to reproductive rights is a form of discrimination against women, girls and others who can become pregnant.

WHEREAS, reproductive rights are basic healthcare needs for millions of women, girls and others who can become pregnant; and

WHEREAS, individuals exercising their reproductive rights must be afforded privacy, dignity, respect and support, and should be able to make their own medical decisions without undue interference by outside parties; and

WHEREAS, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the leading medical organization dedicated to the health of individuals in need of gynecologic and obstetric care, supports the availability of high-quality reproductive health services for all people; and

WHEREAS, research provides evidence that access to reproductive health resources makes it possible for women, birth givers and their families to have healthy and economically productive lives; and

WHEREAS, those who are already marginalized, including women and girls on low income, refugees and migrants, adolescents, members of the LGBTQ+ community and women of color and Indigenous women, are disproportionately affected by the criminalization or restriction of reproductive rights and have no means to seek safe and legal services or access private care; and

WHEREAS, restricting or criminalizing reproductive rights is a violation of human rights, including the rights to privacy and bodily autonomy; and

WHEREAS, the committee for the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has consistently stated that restrictive reproductive rights constitute discrimination against women and people who can become pregnant; and

WHEREAS, this resolution is supported by and in coordination with the Gender Equity Task Force of the Kansas City Human Rights Commission; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

That reproductive rights are fundamental human rights and criminalizing access to reproductive rights is a form of discrimination against women, girls and others who can become pregnant.

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