Democratic Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has named a veteran trial-court judge opposed by the state’s most influential anti-abortion group to the Kansas Supreme Court. Shawnee County District Judge Evelyn Wilson’s appointment is likely to intensify a backlash against the court from conservative legislators. Many Republican lawmakers already are seeking to give the GOP-controlled legislature power it does not have now to block a Supreme Court appointee. Wilson has been a judge since 2004, and the anti-abortion group Kansans For Life opposes her because of past political contributions by her husband to abortion-rights candidates. She replaces former Justice Lee Johnson, who retired in September.
