TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A top Republican lawmaker in Kansas on Friday disputed the claims of GOP colleagues that a bipartisan plan to expand the state's Medicaid program would lead to taxpayers funding elective abortions.

Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, a Kansas City-area Republican, sent an email to senators decrying what he called "inaccurate verbal and written statements" used to justify opposition among anti-abortion lawmakers and groups to the expansion plan he drafted with Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

Abortion opponents want to pass an amendment to the Kansas Constitution declaring that...