Blocking the efforts of Kansas state lawmakers to protect babies still living in their mother’s womb, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that a woman’s right to an abortion is protected by the state’s constitution. In the ruling, the court declared that:
Section 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights affords protection of the right of personal autonomy, which includes the ability to control one’s own body, to assert bodily integrity, and to exercise self-determination. This right allows a woman to make her own decisions regarding her body, health, family formation, and family life— decisions that can include whether to continue a pregnancy.
What makes this ruling ominous for pro-life advocates (not to mention detrimental to the safety and well-being of pre-born humans) is that it protects the right to abortion even if SCOTUS one day overturns Roe v. Wade. Writing for The Federalist, Margot Cleveland explains:
The named plaintiffs, Herbert Hodes and his daughter Traci Nauser, are two late-term abortionists who challenged Kansas’ ban on live dismemberment abortions—abortions which cause death by ripping the limbs and torso off of a fetus. Over the last several years, federal courts have declared similar bans on dismemberment abortions unconstitutional, but today’s decision is significant because, unlike other cases, it is based on a state constitutional right to abortion.
What makes that significant is that the U.S. Supreme Court rarely takes up state constitution issues that have been ruled on by state appellate courts. Time will tell if this is the tactic taken by unelected activist state judges who believe that murdering babies should be permitted by law. For now, though, at least one state has set itself up to protect women who prioritize their self-serving autonomy over the lives of fellow humans against the wishes of the majority of its citizens. The Kansas Supreme Court’s ruling is a tragic obstacle for those in the state who desire to protect the most vulnerable humans in Kansas.
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