Kansas Supreme Court to hear abortion law case

A case before the Kansas Supreme Court on Thursday could determine whether a law banning a type of second-trimester abortion is constitutional.

Justices are set to hear oral arguments this morning over a challenge to Senate Bill 95, passed by lawmakers in April 2015. The law prohibits doctors from performing dilation and evacuation abortions.

The procedure is used in 95 percent of second-trimester abortions and involves the use of surgical tools to remove the fetus.

Physicians Herbert Hodes and Tracy Nauser filed a lawsuit over Senate Bill 95. The requirements of the law have been under a court injunction and have never been enforced.

At issue in the case is not only the law itself, but also whether the state constitution includes the right to an abortion.

Attorneys for the doctors have argued the Kansas Constitution protects the right to an abortion in the same way the U.S. Constitution protects the right to an abortion. The attorney general’s office has argued the opposite.

A lower court judge ruled the state constitution protects the right to an abortion. The Kansas Court of Appeals then upheld the ruling after an effective tie. Seven judges sided with the state, which is seeking to uphold the law, and seven sided with the doctors, though one issued a separate concurring opinion.

In a statement, the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life referenced a brief it filed with the court urging the justices to uphold the law.

“There simply is no basis in the Kansas Bill of Rights for a ruling that requires the state to tolerate live dismemberment abortion,” the brief says.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains isn’t a party to the case but the organization provides abortions in Kansas. A spokeswoman for the organization said women need access to safe and legal abortion services.

“Women should have the right to make their own medical decisions and doctors must have the ability to provide care based on what’s best for their patients,” Bonyen Lee-Gilmore said.

This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 6:57 AM with the headline "Kansas Supreme Court to hear abortion law case."