{"id":201065,"date":"2019-04-26T16:44:54","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T21:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=201065"},"modified":"2019-04-26T16:44:54","modified_gmt":"2019-04-26T21:44:54","slug":"breaking-kansas-supreme-court-declares-right-abortion-state-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/breaking-kansas-supreme-court-declares-right-abortion-state-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas Supreme Court finds ‘right’ to abortion in state constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a stunning example of what many see as judicial activism, the Kansas Supreme Court<\/a> today upheld a lower court ruling against the state’s ban on dismemberment abortion, declaring that the state constitution — which is around 160 years old — grants a woman a “right” to abortion.<\/p>\n

“Section 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights provides: ‘All\u00a0men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty,\u00a0and the pursuit of happiness,'” reads the Court’s decision<\/a>. “We are now asked: Is this declaration of rights more than\u00a0an idealized aspiration? And, if so, do the substantive rights include a woman’s right to\u00a0make decisions about her body, including the decision whether to continue her\u00a0pregnancy? We answer these questions, ‘Yes.'”<\/p>\n

In 2015, Kansas passed a law banning D&E abortions, also known as dismemberment abortions, in which a preborn child is killed while its limbs are ripped from its body by the abortionist. Father-daughter team abortionists Herbert Hodes and Traci Nauser challenged that ban and Shawnee County District Judge Larry D. Hendricks blocked it from taking effect in July of 2015. He ruled that the Kansas Bill of Rights “independently protects the fundamental right to abortion.” This is what is protected, according to the Kansas Supreme Court, which ruled that this could not be outlawed:<\/p>\n