A Kansas abortion debate turned nasty Thursday when the leader of a women’s group pulled out a rubber stamp and accused a House committee of routinely shoveling out bills that restrict the procedure.

One lawmaker walked out in protest.

The committee was concluding two days of hearings on new abortion restrictions when the state coordinator of the National Organization for Women ripped lawmakers for approving any bill that abortion opponents wanted.

“Let’s just move this bill right along out of this committee,” Kari Ann Rinker told legislators. “It doesn’t take a genius to know how each of you will be voting.”

That’s when Rinker removed the large rubber stamp from a brown paper bag, along with an ink pad. In big red block letters, she stamped “APPROVED” across a bill that would require physicians to play a fetal heartbeat for a woman seeking an abortion.

Rinker’s remarks agitated lawmakers, some of whom suggested she was out of line for not showing respect.

State Rep. John Rubin called Rinker’s comments a “scurrilous attack” before storming out during the rest of her testimony.

At issue was a proposal that would require physicians to use hand-held Doppler fetal monitors so pregnant women could hear the heartbeat of the unborn.

The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Lance Kinzer of Olathe, also eliminates an array of tax credits and deductions related to abortion.

Abortion rights advocates say legislators are once again focused on a social agenda that doesn’t reflect the priorities of Kansans. They say it’s an over-reaching attempt to deal with abortion by including regulations from other states that have been legally challenged.

They say they know of no other bill like this one anywhere else in the country.

The measure, backed by Kansans for Life, also would require women to be notified, in writing, about the risks of an abortion. They would have to be told about possibilities of premature birth in future pregnancies, the risks of breast cancer and the dangers related to the woman’s reproductive health.

Abortion rights supporters hotly contest this provision – and many others in the bill. The two sides disagree to what extent abortions harm a woman’s health.

Among other things, the bill also would:

Require doctors to tell women about pain that can be felt by the fetus at the 20th week of pregnancy.

Make it illegal to get an abortion based on the sex of the child.

Ban tax credits or exemptions for abortion expenses or for the purchase of supplemental health insurance policies to cover abortion.

Eliminate sales tax exemptions for any drug used in performing or inducing an abortion.

Ban groups that perform abortions from providing materials for human sexuality classes taught in schools.

The bill is one of four abortion-related measures pending in the Legislature, including a so-called personhood amendment that would ask voters to outlaw abortion.

Kathy Ostrowski, the lobbyist for Kansans for Life, said the bill heard this week is a good step toward protecting the interests of the unborn short of a personhood amendment.

“We think the state can do a lot of good for the child’s parents with these kinds of provisions,” she said.