Kansas Abortion Rights Advocacy Group Sues State Officials over Law Banning Foreign Donations
TOPEKA–A Kansas reproductive rights advocacy group, backed by a Washington, D.C. law firm, sued state officials over a new law banning financial contributions from “foreign nationals” to support or oppose constitutional amendments.
The group, Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, argued in a complaint filed in federal court Friday that House Bill 2106, which passed the state legislature in April and is set to go into effect July 1, is broad, vague, and unconstitutional. The group argued that the law hinders its ability advocate for or against constitutional amendments in the future. The lawsuit claimed that Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, and its donors, received foreign contributions. Voters rejected the proposed constitutional amendment by a 59-41 margin.
“Rather than accept that an overwhelming majority of Kansas voters rejected the 2022 Amendment on its merits, opponents of abortion rights blamed ‘foreign influence’ for their failure at the ballot box,” the complaint said. “Moreover, HB 2106 was meant to make it harder for KCF specifically to engage in advocacy related to Kansas constitutional ballot initiatives.”
Kansans for Constitutional Freedom was the primary engine of opposition to the 2022 amendment, spending more than $11 million in a statewide campaign encouraging voter turnout. The organization stated that it would advocate for or against future constitutional amendments. Kansans for Constitutional Freedom claimed it had already secured funding for its opposition to the amendment. However, HB 2106 could hinder the organization’s plans. The organization argues the restrictions within HB 2106 are “targeted not at the ‘foreign interests’ Kansas claims it means to silence, but at those who associate with them.”
“Through a series of exceedingly broad, highly invasive, and at times completely incomprehensible restrictions, HB 2106 will muzzle the speech of U.S. citizens and domestic organizations far more effectively than that of the foreign nationals Kansas claims it means to target,” the lawsuit read.
HB 2106 retroactively prohibits indirect or direct contributions from a foreign national used for promoting or opposing a constitutional amendment. The bill requires that anyone involved in campaigning to support or oppose an amendment submit campaign finance reports. It also adds a provision requiring foreign donors to certify that they did not receive more than $100,000 from foreigners in the four-year period prior to the law’s implementation. The Kansas Public Disclosure Commission will be renamed the Kansas Ethics Commission under a new law that takes effect in July. It can bring civil action against those who violate HB 2106.
During the bill’s legislative hearings, proponents took particular issue with the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-leaning dark money group which The ethics commission, which is set to be renamed as the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission under a new law that takes effect in July, is able to bring civil action against those who violate HB 2106.
During the bill’s legislative hearings, proponents took particular issue with the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-leaning dark money group that has received millions from foreigners and involved itself in ballot measure campaigns across the U.S. Kansans for Constitutional Freedom took in more than $1.5 million in donations from the fund in 2022, according to Open Secrets, an independent website that tracks money in politics.
Topeka-based law firm Irigonegaray and Revenaugh, a criminal defense and personal injury firm, and the D.C.-based Elias Law Group, which has challenged and drawn ire from the Trump administration, are representing Kansans for Constitutional Freedom.
Both firms also are involved in the recently filed lawsuit on behalf of three Kansas advocacy organizations challenging a new law that eliminates the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots.
This piece was originally published in the Kansas Reflector on May 19, 2025. Kansas Reflector, part of States Newsroom – a nonprofit network of news supported by grants from donors and coalitions of donors in the form of 501c(3) public charities – is able to bring civil action against those who violate HB 2106.0 Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. For questions, please contact Editor Sherman Smith at
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