Kansas Supreme Court allows dismemberment abortion

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the state constitution makes abortion a right and blocked the nation’s first law protecting babies from dismemberment abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy. The ruling stops the state from enforcing a 2015 law that said abortionists could not use forceps or similar instruments on a live baby to remove it in pieces from the womb. National Right to Life crafted the model bill and said 10 other states have since enacted similar laws. According to state health department statistics, 6.7 percent of abortions in Kansas used the method in 2018.

The justices ruled 6-1 on the language of the state constitution. Justice Caleb Stegall, in his dissenting opinion, said the ruling “fundamentally alters the structure of our government” to “arbitrarily grant a regulatory reprieve” for abortion. The state Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court for a trial on the original lawsuit but kept the injunction in place, saying the suit would likely invalidate the law. The ruling opens the door to further legal challenges to laws protecting unborn babies in the state.