As expected, Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson used his line item veto power to restore family planning federal funding that was cut by the state legislature.  The funding, which would be used specifically for contraception and other forms of family planning, rather than abortion services, was reallocated by anti-choice legislators during the budgeting process to go to hospitals and primary care centers, in order to attempt to defund local Planned Parenthoods.

Via the Topeka Capitol Journal:

• Planned Parenthood clinics in Hays and Wichita can continue to receive federal dollars for family planning. Anti-abortion lawmakers had sought to keep those dollars out of the hands of Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions, although none of the federal funds could be used for abortions.

“The family planning services provided by these facilities help lower the likelihood of unplanned pregnancy and thus reduce abortions,” Parkinson said. “Eliminating funding for programs intended to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies does nothing to help reduce abortions in Kansas.”

Kansans for Life executive director Mary Kay Culp said Parkinson was “out of step with the public.”

“It’s a sad day in Kansas when the governor ensures a politically motivated group like Planned Parenthood gets our taxpayer dollars while state health clinics are left wanting,” she said.