State officials agreed not to enforce a new restriction on medication abortions for at least five weeks while a Kansas judge makes a decision on a lawsuit filed by abortion providers that challenges it, along with other existing restrictions.
Attorneys for the abortion care providers who filed the suit announced the agreement Tuesday. For now, providers will not be required to tell patients that they can “reverse” a medication abortion through alternative means. Abortion provider along with major medical groups have hotly contested this rule, claiming that it not only medically unnecessary, but unproven and rooted in neither science nor medicine. They also stated that such requirements could prove to be potentially dangerous. The new rule was set to take effect July 1st. The agreement was filed Friday in Johnson County District Court.
However, the agreement does not prevent the state from enforcing other, existing restrictions the providers have challenged, which includes a requirement that patients wait 24 hours after seeing a doctor in person to terminate their pregnancies. District Judge K. Christopher Jayaram set an Aug. 8th hearing to consider whether the newest restriction or others should be blocked while the lawsuit is pending.
The lawsuit aims to overturn all of the state’s requirements for what providers must tell patients. The information must be given to patients 24 hours in advance of their abortions, in writing and in a specific size and kind of type.
The new Kansas law was set to take effect less than a year after landslide vote in last August 2022 to uphold abortion rights statewide. The Republican-controlled Legislature enacted the new law, overriding Gov. Kelly’s veto.
