A Kansas district judge on Thursday temporarily blocked a state law from taking effect that would ban a common abortion procedure—a measure opponents have called “an unprecedented attack on women’s health.”
Judge Larry Hendricks of the Shawnee County district court granted the injunction against Senate Bill 95 (SB95) while he considers a lawsuit filed by a medical clinic in the city of Overland Park and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
The lawsuit argues that banning the procedure—known as the “dilation and evacuation” (D&E) abortion—could force women to undergo riskier procedures or forgo abortions altogether.
SB95, which passed in April, “is an affront to both patients’ right to be free from unnecessary medical procedures and physicians’ ability to act in what they believe is the best interests of their patients,” the lawsuit states.
Click Here: Golf special
The law, which would have been the first in the nation to ban the D&E and does not make exceptions for survivors of rape and incest, was set to go into effect next Wednesday, July 1.
Common Dreams is a not-for-profit news service. All of our content is free to you – no subscriptions; no ads. We are funded by donations from our readers.
Our critical Mid-Year fundraiser is going very slowly – only 1,097 readers have contributed so far. We must meet our goal before we can end this fundraising campaign and get back to focusing on what we do best.
If you support Common Dreams and you want us to survive, we need you now.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT