KTKA

The Kansas House today sent back to committee a bill that would repeal Lawrence's domestic partnership registry.

Opponents of the bill sought to place it in committee, saying it required further study.

State Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, said there were many legal issues surrounding the legislation that needed to be considered by the House Judiciary Committee.

But the bill's author, state Rep. Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, said referring the bill back to the Judiciary Committee was a stall tactic to try to kill the measure.

Davis' motion to send it back to committee was approved 66-50.

Later, Kinzer said it was possible the bill will be approved by the Judiciary Committee in time to be debated again this session on the floor of the House.

The Lawrence City Commission established a domestic partnership registry last year at the request of gay and lesbian couples who said it could help them secure health insurance benefits for their partners.

The registry allows unmarried couples - both same-sex and heterosexual - to register their domestic partnerships at City Hall.

But Kinzer has said the registry violates a Kansas constitutional amendment that voters approved in 2005, recognizing marriage as only between one man and one woman.

A legal opinion by former Attorney General Paul Morrison said the registry doesn't violate the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

But Kinzer also says that rules affecting couples and families should be uniform throughout the state.