Kansas Attorney General Chris Kobach is appealing a State judge’s ruling that has blocked enforcement of multiple abortion restrictions. Those State Rules include a new limit on medication abortions and an older rule forcing patients to wait 24 hours before they can get the procedure. Kobach filed a notice Thursday, November 16th, in Johnson County District Court saying he will ask higher courts to overturn the judges decision last month.
The judge concluded that abortion providers were likely to successfully argue in a lawsuit that the restrictions violate the Kansas Constitution. The order is set to remain in effect through a trial of the providers’ lawsuit at the end of june 2024. Some of the blocked restrictions have been in place for years. The state imposed its waiting period in 1997. The newest restriction, in place July 1, required providers to tell patients that a medication abortion can be stopped.
A representative for Kobach says the Attorney General has a responsibility to protect women against radicals who want to deny them the ability to make informed decisions about their own health and the welfare of their babies.
