The Kansas Attorney General’s office has filed an appeal on an injunction placed on several of the state’s pro-life laws in October. The injunction temporarily halted state laws that require a 24-hour waiting period mandate for abortions, a requirement that women receive information on abortion pill reversal, a mandate for abortion facility regulations, and informed consent requirements including fetal ultrasound availability.
Attorney General Kris Kobach filed the notice Thursday in Johnson County District Court, asking the higher court to overturn District Judge K. Christopher Jayaram’s block of the laws.
“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,” Kobach spokesperson Danedri Herbert told the Associated Press.
In his ruling last month, Kobach had declared that the pro-life laws may be unconstitutional and pose an undue burden to women seeking abortion. Some of the laws had been on the books for years, and the waiting period law had been in effect since 1997. Despite this, several abortion businesses filed a lawsuit in June of this year on the grounds that the laws were unconstitutional.
“Kansans made it clear they don’t want politicians interfering with their health care decisions and the courts reaffirmed that right,” said Anamarie Rebori-Simmons, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “The attorney general continues to disregard the will of those he serves.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is assisting Kobach in defending the state’s pro-life laws.
“For decades, women in Kansas have been empowered to make fully informed decisions when it comes to the health of their pregnancies and the consequential decision to end the life of their unborn child. These kinds of informed consent laws reflect the long-standing will of the people of Kansas, but Planned Parenthood challenged the law because it impacted their bottom line,” said ADF Senior Counsel Caleb Dalton following Kobach’s October decision.
“Planned Parenthood has made it clear that its goal is to withhold information from women, bypass ultrasounds, and refuse to meet with women before an abortion. Kansans are right to want to protect maternal health and safety and the lives of the unborn, and we will continue defending their interests.”
