Just Enforce the Laws

This week there is a special legislative committee hearing in Topeka. Their topic is the abortion laws in Kansas and whether or not changes need to be made in the laws. The problem is not about legislation that is tough enough or needs changed. I for one hope that some day abortion is made illegal in this country. But that is a different topic. Instead the problem in Kansas right now is not about making some changes to the laws. Instead it is about the non-enforcement of our current laws.

Elected officials have already passed laws concerning abortion. The expectation is and should be that the laws enacted by the legislature will be enforced by the executive branch of government, chiefly the Governor and Attorney General. If new abortions laws are passed, we will still be visiting the same issue. Will the laws be enforced?

The Governor appoints leaders to cabinet level branches of government. In many cases the Governor even appoints heads of individual agencies. The Kansas Board of Healing Arts and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment are two such agencies. These two agencies have been given statutory and regulatory authority over many of the current abortion laws in Kansas. These agencies have refused to enforce the laws and have turned their nose up at the legislature.

The Attorney General’s Office has statutory authority to investigate criminal cases and misconduct of other government officials or agencies. The AG also has the arm of the KBI to investigate criminal cases. This bureaucratic coup against the legislature is plain and simply unethical and in direct violation of the Kansas Constitution. It’s a sad state of affairs when laws that have been passed are ignored.

Instead of adding to the abortion laws in Kansas the legislative committee currently empanelled in Topeka should investigate why the laws they have already enacted are being ignored. Agency heads should be ordered to appear before the committee to answer those very questions. In addition, the Governor and Attorney General should have to appear under oath as well and explain their actions, or their inactions.

There is a growing trend in this country to ignore laws. Steps must be taken in the future for the different branches of government to understand that they are separate but equal in power. The simple solution however is to just enforce the laws.

Currie Myers is the editor and publisher of the Kansas Federalist E-Newsline. He served for over twenty years in law enforcement as the former sheriff of Johnson County, Kansas, as a KBI special agent and as a state trooper. Sheriff Myers is a published author, an adjunct professor, and is the CEO/President of Sheriff Myers & Associates, a security management consulting firm.