Hutchinson ? A recent Republican mailing about the upcoming Kansas Day activities has upset some members of the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life.

The calendar for the party’s Kansas Day activities Jan. 30-31 in Topeka listed the Kansans for Life’s breakfast to be held in the convention hotel Jan. 31.

But that listing also included this disclaimer:

“The positions, opinions and views of Kansans for Life are not necessarily those of the Republican Party of Kansas. The presence of Kansans for Life at this event shall not be misconstrued as an endorsement of Kansans for Life or its single-issue agenda.”

Dennis Jones, chairman of the Republican Party of Kansas, said he wrote the disclaimer because he didn’t think it was appropriate for an outside organization to schedule an event that competes with the party’s gathering.

He said Kansans for Life intentionally schedules its breakfast about the same time the party holds a breakfast in the same hotel to honor party officers and volunteers at the county level.

“Those officers and volunteers are the heart and soul and lifeblood of the Republican party,” Jones said.

Jones said he did not think it was appropriate for Kansans for Life to ask to be included in the program. As a compromise, the organization’s breakfast was listed along with the disclaimer.

He noted that the conservative Kansas Republican Assembly also convenes in Topeka during Kansas Day weekend but it picks a different venue.

“They (KRA) used to be in the hotel until the Kansas Republican Party kicked them out,” said Kansans for Life past President Tim Golba, who added that the state party doesn’t like some Republicans.

“They discriminate against us because we’re conservative and pro-life,” Golba said.

The Kansans for Life breakfast at the Kansas Day Club gathering started in 1992, he said. Last year, a somewhat similar disclaimer appeared in the Kansas Day mailing that seemed to be aimed at Kansans for Life, Golba said, but did not name the organization.

“I just kind of rolled my eyes and sighed,” said Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, when she learned of this year’s disclaimer. She suspected Republican Party politics in the 3rd District congressional race might have prompted the note.

When the 2002 congressional race came down to Democrat Dennis Moore and Republican Adam Taff, Kansans for Life endorsed the Reform Party’s Dawn Bly, said Steve Cloud, a Johnson County Taff supporter in 2002 and the current National Republican Committeeman from Kansas. Kansans for Life also endorsed 18 Democrats running for office, he said.

But Cloud emphasized that the disclaimer had nothing to do with Adam Taff.

“Frankly, there are a lot of pro-choice Republicans in the state of Kansas, as there are a lot of pro-life Republicans,” Cloud said.

The state Republican Party does not have its own political platform, but President George W. Bush ran in 2000 on a platform opposed to abortion, except in cases of incest, rape or when the safety of the mother was at risk, and supporting an amendment against abortion.