SESSION OF 2024
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2813
As Amended by House Committee on Federal
and State Affairs

Brief*
HB 2813, as amended, would create the crime of
reproductive coercion and create a special sentencing rule
that would apply to persons convicted of certain crimes
against a victim with the intent to compel an abortion.

Reproductive Coercion
The bill would create the crime of reproductive coercion
within the Kansas Criminal Code. The crime would be defined
as:
● Engaging in coercion with knowledge that a woman
is pregnant and with the intent to compel such
woman to obtain an abortion when she has
expressed a desire to not obtain an abortion; or
● To gain control over the reproductive autonomy of
another through force, threat of force, or
intimidation and may include, but not be limited to:
○ Unreasonably pressuring the other party to
become pregnant;
○ Deliberately interfering with contraception
use; or
○ Using coercive tactics to control pregnancy
outcomes.
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
Penalty
The bill would classify the offense of reproductive
coercion as a nongrid person felony with a sentence between
30 days and 1 year of imprisonment, and a fine of $500 to
$5,000.
Increased Penalty
The penalty for a reproductive coercion offense would
be raised to a minimum of 90 days and a fine of $1,000 to
$10,000 if:
● The offense was committed by the father or
putative father who is 18 or older when the offense
is committed; and
● The offense is committed against a pregnant
woman who is under the age of 18.
Definitions
The bill would define the following terms:
● “Abortion,” to mean the same as defined in public
health law;
● “Coercion,” to mean any of the following:
○ Threatening to harm or physically restrain an
individual or the creation or execution of any
scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause an
individual to believe that failure to perform an
act would result in financial harm to, or
physical restraint of, an individual;
○ Abusing or threatening abuse of the legal
system, including threats of arrest or
deportation without regard to whether the

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 individual being threatened is subject to arrest
or deportation under Kansas or federal law;
○ Knowingly destroying, concealing, removing,
confiscating, or possessing any actual or
purported passport or other immigration
document from an individual without regard to
whether the documents are fraudulent or
fraudulently obtained; or
○ Facilitating or controlling an individual’s
access to a controlled substance, as defined
in continuing law, other than for a legitimate
medical purpose.
● “Financial harm,” to mean any of the following:
○ Any loan, promissory note, or other credit
instrument that provides for interest at a rate
that is prohibited by state or federal law;
○ Any employment contract or other agreement
for the payment of wages that violates the
Wage Payment Act;
○ Extortion as defined in the Kansas Criminal
Code; or
○ Any other adverse financial consequence.
● “Unborn child,” to mean a living individual organism
of the species Homo sapiens, in utero, at any stage
of gestation from fertilization to birth.
Special Sentencing Rule
The bill would create a special sentencing rule that
would apply when a trier of fact makes a finding beyond a
reasonable doubt that an offender committed certain acts,
enumerated by the bill, including an attempt or conspiracy of
such act with knowledge that a woman is pregnant and with
intent that the act will compel the woman to obtain an
abortion, despite the woman having expressed a desire not to
obtain an abortion.
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 The bill would apply the special sentencing rule to the
following crimes and other offenses as defined in the statutes:
● Kidnapping;
● Interference with parental custody;
● Criminal restraint;
● Assault;
● Battery;
● Domestic battery;
● Criminal threat;
● Human trafficking;
● Stalking;
● Blackmail;
● Endangerment;
● Rape;
● Criminal sodomy;
● Sexual battery;
● Indecent liberties with a child;
● Unlawful voluntary sexual relations;
● Indecent solicitation of a child;
● Electronic solicitation;
● Sexual exploitation of a child;
● Sexual extortion;
● Endangering a child;
● Abuse of a child;
● Incest; and
● Abandonment of a child.

Enhancement of Penalty
For offenses classified in severity level 2 through 10, the
penalty would be enhanced one severity level above the
severity level classification assigned in law.

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 For offenses classified in severity level 1, the bill would
require a penalty of imprisonment for life, without eligibility for
probation or suspension, modification, or reduction of the
sentence. Further, the bill would specify the offender would
not be eligible for parole prior to serving 25 years’
imprisonment, and that 25 years could not be reduced by the
application of good time credits. However, if the offender’s
criminal history classification would mean the offense would
carry a penalty of presumptive imprisonment of a term to
exceed 300 months, the offender would be required to serve
a mandatory minimum term of the applicable number of
months under the sentencing grid.
[Note: Under continuing law, Kansas’ sentencing
guidelines for nondrug crimes utilize a grid containing the
crime severity level (1 to 5, 1 being the highest severity level)
and the offender’s criminal history score (A to I, A being the
highest criminal history score) to determine the presumptive
sentence for an offense.]
The bill would specify the escalated sentence would not
be considered a departure or subject to appeal.

Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Federal and State Affairs at the request of Representative
Schmoe.

House Committee on Federal and State Affairs
In the House Committee meeting, proponent testimony
was provided by Representative Schmoe and representatives
of A Better Choice, Kansas Catholic Conference, Kansans for
Life, Kansas Family Voice, and Project 2 Restore. The
proponents stated the bill would help persons who feel they
are forced into seeking an abortion, prosecutors addressing

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human trafficking, and victims seeking justice against
abusers.
Neutral testimony was provided by a representative of
the Charlotte Lozier Institute who provided statistics from a
study concerning whether persons who received an abortion
procedure felt pressured to complete the procedure. Written-
only neutral testimony was provided by the Kansas Coalition
Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.
Written-only opponent testimony was provided by a
representative of the Kansas Birth Justice Society.
The House Committee amended the bill to replace
provisions of the bill relating to a new crime of coercion to
obtain an abortion with provisions creating a new crime of
reproductive coercion that would cover reproductive
autonomy, including coercion of abortion, coercion to become
pregnant, interfering with contraception use, or other tactics
used to control pregnancy outcomes.

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the Board of Indigents’
Defense Services (BIDS) indicates enactment of the bill
would increase agency expenditures on legal counsel and
support staff by unknown amounts. BIDS estimates that, on
average, low-level person felony cases require 35 hours of
direct work by an attorney to provide constitutionally
adequate representation. Based on the rates of $84.36 per
hour for public defenders and $120 per hour for assigned
counsel, each new low-level person felony case brought to
BIDS would result in State General Fund (SGF) expenditures
between $2,918 and $4,200.
BIDS further indicates mid-level felonies require 57
hours of attorney case work and high-level felonies require 99
hours of attorney case work. Each low-level felony that is
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upgraded to a mid-level felony would require an additional 22
hours of work at a cost between $1,834 and $2,640. Each
mid-level felony that is upgraded to a high-level felony would
require an additional 42 hours of work at a cost between
$3,501 and $5,040.
The Judicial Branch indicates the bill has the potential to
increase the number of cases filed in district courts with a
potential of increasing agency operating expenditures due to
the additional time spent by court personnel in processing,
researching, and hearing cases. However, an exact estimate
of this effect could not be calculated. Enactment of the bill
could also increase the collection of docket fees and fines,
which are deposited in the SGF. However, the amount of
additional collections is unknown.
The Sentencing Commission indicates the bill has the
potential to increase prison admissions and beds by a
negligible amount. The Department of Corrections indicates
the bill may increase agency operating expenditures by a
negligible amount that could be accommodated within
existing resources.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of the bill is
not reflected in The FY 2025 Governor’s Budget Report.
The Kansas Association of Counties indicates the bill
has the potential to increase operating expenditures for
county jails. The League of Kansas Municipalities did not
provide an estimate of the bill’s fiscal effect on cities.
Crimes; abortion; coercion; reproduction; pregnancy outcomes; sentencing


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Statutes affected:
As introduced: 21-6804
As Amended by House Committee: 21-6804