The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state constitution protects abortion rights, blocking the legislature’s 2015 ban on second-trimester abortions.
In the ruling, from which only one of seven justices dissented, the court says that the state constitution’s “declaration of natural rights, which specifically includes the rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, protects the core right of personal autonomy — which includes the ability to control one’s own body, to assert bodily integrity, and to exercise self-determination.”
Because the protection of abortion rights is enshrined in the state constitution, abortion will remain legal in Kansas even if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses or narrows the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
The ruling says the Bill of Rights for Kansans begins with a statement of inalienable rights, “demonstrating the supremacy placed on the rights of individuals, preservation of these natural rights is given precedence over the establishment of government.”
In 2015, the Kansas state legislature banned dilation and evacuation abortions, procedures most common in the second trimester. The exceptions are for if the safety of the mother is threatened or if the fetus is already dead.
This ruling comes in the wake of 11 states moving recently to ban abortions after six weeks, legislation often referred to as “heartbeat bills.”
[Opinion: Ohio is quietly becoming one of the most pro-life states]
