In a ruling on Monday, Judge K. Christopher Jayaram of the District Court of Johnson County, Kansas, issued a preliminary injunction against a state law that mandated healthcare providers to inform patients that medication abortion can be reversed and is linked to breast cancer. The injunction will remain in effect while the judge considers a lawsuit challenging the law, which was passed in April.
Judge Jayaram stated that the law infringes upon doctors' free speech rights and patients' constitutional right to abortion, as recognized by the Kansas Supreme Court in 2019. "The State’s capacity to legislate pursuant to its own moral scruples is necessarily curbed by the Kansas Constitution and its Bill of Rights," he wrote.
Alice Wang from the Center for Reproductive Rights, representing the plaintiffs, lauded the ruling for removing "paternalistic barriers" to abortion access. On the other hand, Caleb Dalton of the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing the state, vowed to continue defending the interests of Kansans.
The law in question required doctors to inform patients that the effects of the abortion medication mifepristone could be reversed with a high dose of progesterone, a claim that has been widely criticized. The American Cancer Society has also stated that there is no scientific evidence supporting the notion that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer.
The lawsuit was initiated by a regional Planned Parenthood affiliate and several individual healthcare providers, who argued that the law compels doctors to disseminate misinformation and endorse "experimental and potentially dangerous treatments" and that the only controlled trial studying the "reversal" was terminated prior to completion due to severe bleeding experienced by three out of 12 patients, necessitating hospitalization.
The ruling comes at a time when abortion rights are under scrutiny nationwide, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Kansas voters rejected a measure to remove abortion rights from the state constitution in August 2022, maintaining the legality of abortion up to 22 weeks in the state.
As the legal battle continues, the preliminary injunction serves as a temporary relief for healthcare providers and patients in Kansas. The case is being closely watched, as it could set a precedent for similar laws and challenges in other states.
On Friday, Kansas' highest court permanently barred the state from enforcing a law that banned the most common second-trimester abortion procedure. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the ban violated the state constitution’s right to abortion, which the court had recognized in a 2019 decision. The 5-1 ruling by the... Read More »
On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court denied a lawsuit brought by 22 patients and physicians seeking to ensure that doctors are not prosecuted for performing abortions they deem necessary in medically complicated pregnancies. This decision follows an earlier ruling from the same court that denied an emergency abortion request for... Read More »
Last week, an Arizona judge ruled that a 19th-century law banning all abortions across the state, unless to save the life of the mother, was ruled to still be in effect following the overturn of the Supreme Court’s 1974 Roe v. Wade ruling. The 1864 law, enacted while Arizona was... Read More »
On Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court, made up mostly of Republican appointees, reversed an earlier ruling guaranteeing the right to abortion under the state’s constitution. Under this new decision, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, Iowa would then have an easier, legal pathway to ban the procedure throughout... Read More »
