Posted on Oct 31, 2023
Kansas judge blocks 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions
611
7
1
5
5
0
The temporary injunction also puts state-mandated counseling and a new abortion pill 'reversal' law on hold.
A Kansas judge has temporarily blocked several of the state’s longstanding abortion restrictions, including a 24-hour waiting period that providers say has resulted in hundreds of women being denied abortions.
In an order released Monday, Johnson County District Judge K. Christopher Jayaram wrote that the restrictions “[appear] to be a thinly-veiled effort to stigmatize the procedure and instill fear in patients that are contemplating an abortion, based upon disproven and unsupportable claims.”
The newly-blocked restrictions also include state-mandated counseling that contains the disproven claim that abortion increases the risk of developing breast cancer; a 30-minute waiting period after meeting with a doctor, and a new law that required providers to give patients medically unsupported information about reversing the effects of abortion pills.
A Kansas judge has temporarily blocked several of the state’s longstanding abortion restrictions, including a 24-hour waiting period that providers say has resulted in hundreds of women being denied abortions.
In an order released Monday, Johnson County District Judge K. Christopher Jayaram wrote that the restrictions “[appear] to be a thinly-veiled effort to stigmatize the procedure and instill fear in patients that are contemplating an abortion, based upon disproven and unsupportable claims.”
The newly-blocked restrictions also include state-mandated counseling that contains the disproven claim that abortion increases the risk of developing breast cancer; a 30-minute waiting period after meeting with a doctor, and a new law that required providers to give patients medically unsupported information about reversing the effects of abortion pills.
Kansas judge blocks 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions
Posted from kmuw.org
Abortion
Medical
Health
Posted 6 mo ago
Responses: 1
2
2
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."The 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision, the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and the Kansas vote to affirm abortion rights have all put abortion opponents on the defensive in the state after decades of incremental gains through restrictions approved by Republican state lawmakers.
Kansans for Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion group, cast Jayaram’s decision as a “nightmare” for women. In a statement, the group repeatedly described the blocked restrictions as safeguards on abortion.
“Women will pay the price for the deceitful practices of the abortion industry that consistently puts its own profits above all else,” KFL spokeswoman Danielle Underwood said.
Even as Jayaram dealt a severe setback to abortion opponents, he acknowledged the depth of conviction and belief on both sides of the issue. He wrote that the start of life have been debated for decades, if not longer, and that he wouldn’t wade into the divide in order to rule on a temporary injunction.
“The Court has great respect for the deeply held beliefs on either side of this contentious issue,” Jayaram wrote. “Nevertheless, the State’s capacity to legislate pursuant to its own moral scruples is necessarily curbed by the Kansas Constitution and its Bill of Rights.”
..."The 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision, the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and the Kansas vote to affirm abortion rights have all put abortion opponents on the defensive in the state after decades of incremental gains through restrictions approved by Republican state lawmakers.
Kansans for Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion group, cast Jayaram’s decision as a “nightmare” for women. In a statement, the group repeatedly described the blocked restrictions as safeguards on abortion.
“Women will pay the price for the deceitful practices of the abortion industry that consistently puts its own profits above all else,” KFL spokeswoman Danielle Underwood said.
Even as Jayaram dealt a severe setback to abortion opponents, he acknowledged the depth of conviction and belief on both sides of the issue. He wrote that the start of life have been debated for decades, if not longer, and that he wouldn’t wade into the divide in order to rule on a temporary injunction.
“The Court has great respect for the deeply held beliefs on either side of this contentious issue,” Jayaram wrote. “Nevertheless, the State’s capacity to legislate pursuant to its own moral scruples is necessarily curbed by the Kansas Constitution and its Bill of Rights.”
(2)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google