During this past year, the state of Kansas has rejected Medicaid expansion, even though researchers have recently found that expansion will either break even or save the state money. What is also alarming, the state continues to pass and defend laws that are unconstitutional, which violate a woman’s ability to control her fertility and seek reproductive health care.

Kansas is better than this.

In a time when many families are struggling to make ends meet, to provide not only opportunities but also basic necessities for their children, many people in our state government are more concerned with finding new ways to restrict access to necessary reproductive health care.

Women who are unable to plan their families, due to lack of access to reproductive health services, such as contraceptives and regular exams, tend to have less control over their reproduction. If we focus on enabling people in our communities to reach their full potential, it creates a stronger state, which is healthier for both women and their families. But the state has focused on other priorities.

In a year when the entire Kansas government ground to a halt over budget battles and shortfalls, leaders committed to spending hundreds of thousands of additional taxpayer dollars to defend unconstitutional laws. If these laws were enforced, they would do nothing but make it harder for Kansas families to access necessary health care. The state of Kansas had already spent well over $1 million defending reproductive health restrictions. Additional costs to the state are estimated at $350,000 to $400,000 to defend the most recent unconstitutional laws.

As these bills are being defended by the state, the state continues to face serious budget problems going into this next legislative session. Legislators can’t agree on how to fund our education system; the courts are hearing arguments regarding funding and its constitutionality while school districts across the state see massive budget cuts. And due to the rejection of Medicaid expansion, hospitals are struggling.

We must do better in 2016. We have the opportunity to change our path. I call on fellow lawmakers to keep the spirit of goodwill, kindness and compassion of the holiday season in their hearts as we begin a new year and enter the 2016 legislative session. Together, we can improve the lives of women and their families.

REP. ANNIE KUETHER, D-Topeka, 55th District