Opponents and proponents of Democratic health care reform will be facing off this Saturday during a rally in downtown Shawnee in Johnson County.

The clashing between the two groups comes at a very emotional time for both sides of the debate as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has voiced her determination for the reform legislation to be voted on in the House Saturday.

The public demonstration was initially planned as a response to the Health Care Freedom Amendment, an initiative designed to preserve the freedom of Kansas residents to make their own choices regarding what type of health care they want. The amendment would protect Kansans from being forced to comply with the government mandates and additional taxes included in current Democrat reform plans.

Opponents to the amendment argue that Kansas residents should comply with any provisions included in reform plans that could be handed down by the federal government — including legal penalties for not buying insurance — and planned the rally as a way to voice their support of the Democratic reform.

In a media release, the Kansas City Young Democrats urged members to rally together to oppose the amendment, saying it would deny residents "the true choice of a public insurance option and more affordable care.”

The Kansas Forward blogsite published a call for amendment opponents to join their rally. "The real reason behind this Saturday’s march is to stop Kansas Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook's proposed amendment to deny Kansans the CHOICE of a public health insurance plan," the site reported. "Last week, with Koch Industries  backed Americans for Prosperity (AFP) at her side, she introduced an amendment with the sole purpose of denying Kansans the very Health Care Reform that is so badly needed."

The anti-amendment rally is also supported by MoveOn.org, a liberal activist group associated with ACORN, the controversial community-organizing organization.

The amendment would not prevent residents to opt in to the public insurance option. It would, however, ensure that residents were not mandated to do so.

After hearing of the Democrats’ plans, supporters of the amendment started to plan a counter-rally to demonstrate their claim that the amendment has already garnered strong support since it was first introduced to the public last week. The amendment is being spearheaded by Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, along with Reps. Peggy Mast, R-Emporia, and Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita.

Pilcher-Cook is the publisher of Kansas Liberty.

Amendment opponents are expected to meet at 9:45 a.m. near Johnson Drive and Cody Street and eventually end up in front of Shawnee City Hall. Supporters of the Health Care Freedom Amendment will meet at Shawnee City Hall.

Americans for Prosperity-Kansas, the Kansas 912 project and conservative leaders are working to promote the counter-rally.

Greg Ward, co-founder of the Kansas branch of the 912 project and founder of the Kansas Sovereignty Coalition, said the issue of health care reform has awakened liberty-minded residents into taking a stance to preserve their individual freedoms.

“We have to stand our ground,” Ward told Kansas Liberty. “Liberty-minded people are taking time and making time to come out and fight for what is important to us. We have to or we will lose our rights and that is the bottom line.”

Rally organizer James Meier questioned why Democrats were standing up in opposition against allowing Kansas residents to make their voice heard on the issue.

“Any constitutional amendment would have to be approved by the Kansas people,” Meier told Kansas Liberty. “And we have these liberal activists saying, ‘We don’t want the people of Kansas to have a voice,’ which I find very disturbing.”

Meier is an occasional content contributor to Kansas Liberty.

The proposal is in the form of a House resolution. If the resolution passes both the House and the Senate with a two-thirds majority, Kansas residents would be given the opportunity to vote whether to include the amendment in the Kansas Constitution.

Kansas is one of 20 states that are pursuing constitutional amendments that would allow residents to make their own health care choices without the influence of the federal government.

The amendments are modeled after legislation promoted by American Legislative Exchange Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting individual liberty and limited government.

Arizona is the first of the 20 states to successfully pass the resolution out of its state Legislature.

Montana is the latest state to join the movement, with two senators announcing today their intentions to promote the amendment.

Kansas’ Health Care Freedom Amendment has already gathered several endorsements from state House and Senate leaders, as well as support from Fourth District Republican Congressman Todd Tiahrt.

“We do not want Washington bureaucrats making medical decisions that should be made by patients and their doctors,” Tiahrt said in his statement of support. “I applaud those …highlighting the need to preserve our rights as Kansans when it comes to preventing the federal government from controlling more of our healthcare decisions."

Congressional candidate Patricia Lightner announced today she was also endorsing the amendment. Lightner is a candidate for the Third Congressional District, the seat held by Rep. Dennis Moore, who supports Democratic reform including the public insurance option.

"We must preserve the principles of limited government, economic freedom, and individual liberty — and the Kansas Health Care Freedom Amendment does that," Lightner said in a news release.

- Holly Smith

Resources:

Read the Health Care Freedom Amendment here

Kansas Young Democrats

Forward Kansas

Patricia Lightner's statement

Rep. Todd Tiahrt's statement

Kansas 912 project

Kansas Sovereignty Coalition

ALEC press release on Montana joining movement

Shawnee Dispatch story on protest

The Week in Review