Court filings by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other activists seek to overturn the Kansas death penalty, in part using the 2019 Hodes decision by the Kansas Supreme Court. There the court found a “right to personal autonomy” as the basis of a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy. The litigants argue that personal autonomy rights should extend to protecting death row inmates from capital punishment.
But what of the personal autonomy of the baby, especially one who survives an abortion procedure? Should he or she have their life spared along with the inmate?
None of those filing briefs in the death penalty case of State of Kansas vs. Antoine Ramon Fielder wanted to discuss their seemingly conflicting views.
The only response we received was from Kansas ACLU Communication Director Esmie Tseng, who dismissed our question:
“I can empathize with the reasoning behind asking your question, but unfortunately, you’re asking for thorough speculation on an extreme and unlikely hypothetical in a way that disregards the reality of the people and families who are in these difficult situations.
“Should you be interested in meaningfully engaging with the coalition’s arguments, you can find those filings here.
We also contacted other litigants arguing to overturn the death penalty in Kansas: The Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services and Washington, D.C.-based law firms Hogan Lovells and Ali & Lockwood. None offered a comment to our abortion question.
Kansas has not executed a prisoner since George York and James Latham in June 1965. Dick Hickok and Perry Smith, convicted of the 1959 murders of The Clutter Family in Holcomb, were hanged in April of that year. Their case was immortalized by Truman Capote in his book “In Cold Blood.”
