© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Kansas Senate Democrat Calls for Action After Planned Parenthood Comments

Stephen Koranda
/
Kansas Public Radio
Sen. Anthony Hensley on an event last week.

The top Democrat in the Kansas Senate wants the chamber to admonish a fellow senator who equated Planned Parenthood to Nazis. Republican Steve Fitzgerald compared Planned Parenthood to Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp. He did so after someone made a contribution to the organization in his name.

Democrat Anthony Hensley says he'll formally ask Senate leaders to hold Fitzgerald accountable for his comments.

“I think they ought to at least make some sort of a public pronouncement that they do not in any way whatsoever condone what he said,” Hensley said. “I think what he said was completely inappropriate and they should call him out for that.”

Fitzgerald defended his comments about the abortion provider this week.

“Killing people equals killing people. That’s my statement and I’m staying with it,” Fitzgerald said.

When asked for a response, a spokesperson for Senate President Susan Wagle would only say that they have yet to receive anything in writing from Hensley's office.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.