Kansas Abortion Law: Judge Blocks Ban On Abortion Method Common In Second Trimester Of Pregnancy

A judge in Kansas blocked a Kansas abortion law that was set to take effect on July 1, 2015. The abortion law that was going to be in effect would have made it illegal for dilation and evacuation abortions to be performed. Dilation and evacuation abortions are the most common type of abortions performed on women who are in their second trimester of pregnancy.

The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the law from going into effect. The lawsuit claimed that if a Kansas abortion law made it illegal for D&E abortions, then women who wanted to have an abortion in their second trimester of pregnancy would be forced to seek out more dangerous methods. Judge Larry Hendricks decided to block the Kansas abortion law from going into effect while he considered the validity of the lawsuit.

Genevieve Scott, a staff attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, is relieved that the Kansas abortion law has been blocked.

“This is so important for the women of Kansas, since this ban would have required women to go for a more complex procedure with greater risk,” she said. “We are excited the judge recognized the likelihood of success that this violates the right to abortion. We think [the injunction] shows that the judge is abiding by Supreme Court precedent that a ban on D&E is unconstitutional.”

The state’s attorneys, who are in favor of the law going into effect as it is written, made comments in a court filing.

“The Act does not preclude access to safe and effective abortions. Instead, it simply declares one particularly gruesome and medically unnecessary method of abortion to be beyond society’s tolerance level.”

Doctor Herbert Hodes and Doctor Traci Nauser are Kansas doctors who provide the service of abortions. They were both listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The two doctors argued that this Kansas abortion law would force them to risk the safety of their patients by providing a riskier type of abortion.

The D&E method of abortion is considered to be the safest type of abortion in second-trimester pregnancies. The World Health Organization issued a report stating that the dilation and evacuation method is far superior in safety compared to other types of late-term abortion methods.

If this Kansas abortion law had taken effect on July 1, 2015, it would have been the first state in the country to ban the dilation and evacuation method. Those who are anti-abortion were hoping that this would have caused a domino effect across the nation in banning this abortion method.

[Image via U.S. News and World Report]