Judge Blocks Kansas' Ban of 2nd Trimester Dismemberment Abortions

Pekintimes.com reports: A judge on Thursday blocked Kansas' first-in-the-nation ban on an abortion procedure that opponents describe as dismembering a fetus, concluding that the law would likely present too big of an obstacle for women seeking to end their pregnancies. Shawnee County District Court Judge Larry Hendricks sided with New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, agreeing to put the law on hold while he considers a lawsuit filed on behalf of two Kansas abortion providers... The new law would ban doctors from using forceps, clamps, scissors or similar instruments on a live fetus to remove it from the womb in pieces. Such instruments are commonly used in dilation and evacuation procedures, but Kansas legislators said using them on a live fetus is inhumane. The new law includes exceptions to protect the life and physical health of a woman, and it wouldn't apply if doctors ensure a fetus dies before using the instruments. The law arose from model legislation pushed by the National Right to Life Committee. Kansas was the first state to enact it. Oklahoma legislators approved a similar law, but it doesn't take effect until November. Dilation and evacuation procedures accounted for about 9 percent of all abortions in Kansas last year, according to the state health department...