The Kansas Supreme Court issued two decisions on Friday striking down a series of abortion rules and restrictions, reaffirming its earlier decision that the 2019 ruling guarantees the right to terminate a pregnancy under the Kansas Constitution.
In its first opinion, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld the district court’s decision, reaffirming that Section 1 of the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights protects a pregnant person’s right to terminate a pregnancy. Specifically, the court found that the state did not provide adequate evidence to justify S.B. 95 under the strict scrutiny standard. The state’s arguments were deemed primarily moral and philosophical, lacking concrete evidence.
The Kansas Legislature, in 2015, passed Senate Bill 95 (S.B. 95), which banned the common second-trimester abortion procedure known as Dilation and Evacuation (D&E), except when necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life or prevent substantial and irreversible physical impairment. Physicians Herbert C. Hodes and Traci Lynn Nauser challenged the law, asserting it violated the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
In 2019, the state supreme court ruled in Hodes & Nauser v Schmidt that the Kansas Constitution protects a fundamental right to personal autonomy, including the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy. This decision mandated that any governmental action impairing this right must pass “strict scrutiny,” meaning the law must serve a compelling government interest and be narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.
After the 2019 decision, the Shawnee District Court was tasked with determining if S.B. 95 could meet the strict scrutiny standard. The district court found that the state failed to prove the law’s constitutionality, leading to a permanent injunction against the law’s enforcement. The state’s appeal brought the case back to the Kansas Supreme Court, which upheld the district court’s ruling.
In its second opinion, the court struck down regulations on the licensure of abortion provider facilities. The 2011 Senate Bill 36 created new licensing requirements for medical facilities providing abortion care, covering staffing, procedures, equipment, and the physical environment. The state failed to provide sufficient evidence that these regulations furthered the compelling interests of protecting maternal health and regulating the medical profession.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, representing the Kansas doctors who challenged the laws, noted that this ruling was a significant victory for the health, safety, and dignity of Kansans. Nancy Northup, the organization’s president, and CEO praised the court’s decision, calling it an essential win for reproductive rights in Kansas and the Midwest.
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