The chairwoman of the Kansas Senate's health committee marked the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision Wednesday by introducing a bill that would ban surrogate pregnancies in Kansas and invited two women to undergo sonograms in front of legislators.

Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, a Shawnee Republican who leads the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, said her bill would mirror prohibition on surrogate pregnancy imposed in the District of Columbia.

She declined to go into detail because she wasn't holding a draft of the legislation she wrote. Bills in conceptual form — not presented in writing — can be introduced in legislative committees. The senator promised to email a draft of the bill Wednesday to The Topeka Capital-Journal but didn’t.

"Currently in Kansas, there are no laws regarding surrogacy," she said. "I'd like the committee to take a look at that."

Surrogate contracts are prohibited in Washington, D.C., and the law there allows for prison sentences and fines against anyone sidestepping the mandate. It is unclear whether Pilcher-Cook's measure also would delve into limits on in-vitro fertilization as does the D.C. law.

Sean Tipton, spokesman for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Washington, said the District of Columbia was in the process of softening its surrogacy regulations.

"They recognize it's an antiquated statute and are working to change it," he said. "Current District law is not friendly to surrogacy."

He said the legislation sponsored by Pilcher-Cook suggested the senator was uncomfortable allowing Kansans to make their own reproductive decisions.

Introduction of her bill in the Senate committee was a prelude to an extraordinary medical examination of two pregnant women by a technician operating behind a blue tarp in front of senators and guests.

The first patient — Washburn University student Amanda Kennedy — permitted a viewing of her 12-week-old fetus on a 3-foot-wide television monitor.

"There's its little hand waving to us," said technician Cindy Paderson, who works in a crisis pregnancy facility in Wyandotte County. "This is the baby's feet."

The demonstration arranged by Pilcher-Cook drew praise and condemnation, but the chairwoman was pleased with the outcome.

"I think we're all awestruck," the senator said. "I was afraid it wasn't going to come together."

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said the GOP chairwoman of the committee shouldn't have conducted a live presentation of sonograms in the Statehouse.

"I felt like this was way beyond the pale of what a legislative committee should do," Hensley said. "It's more of a political demonstration. She's basically playing to her base."

The Statehouse grounds were host Wednesday to a rally of hundreds of anti-abortion activists, including Gov. Sam Brownback, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts and U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp.

Sen. Jacob LaTurner, R-Pittsburg, said he appreciated presentation of vivid evidence of a fetus evolving in the womb. He also lauded the contribution of crisis pregnancy centers established to convince women with unexpected pregnancies there is an option to abortion.

"I think it allows people to see the miracle of life," LaTurner said. "It allows women in these sometimes terrible positions to really make an informed decision on the best way to move forward."