Government

The Kansas Senate has approved new restrictions on abortion providers.

Senators voted 29-11 Tuesday on a bill blocking tax breaks for clinics that provide abortions.

The legislation also keeps groups affiliated with abortion from furnishing materials or instructors for sex education classes in public schools.

The measure also spells out in greater detail which information doctors must provide to patients before performing abortions-- including information about a now-debunked potential link between abortion and breast cancer.

Starting next year, states will be able to take part in a sweeping expansion of the health care program Medicaid, and the federal government will pick up most of the cost. But it's still not clear if that expansion will take place in Kansas, where the state's Medicaid program is known as KanCare. 

As Lawmakers and Gov. Sam Brownback consider the expansion, some Kansans are trying to make their voices heard.

THE PLIGHT OF MARI WHITE

Senators have sent a bill to Gov. Sam Brownback's desk that would require Kansas residents who receive welfare and unemployment benefits to submit to drug testing.

State health officials are working to quiet concerns that a bill would allow for the quarantine of people with HIV.

The bill is aimed at protecting emergency responders, making it easier to test an accident victim's blood to test for HIV or other infectious diseases. But, some were concerned that the bill removed long standing protections for persons with HIV/AIDS, and might open the door for them to be quarantined.