Kansas high court signals continued abortion rights support

By JOHN HANNA
AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ highest court has signaled that it still considers access to abortion a “fundamental” right under the state constitution. Multiple justices expressed skepticism Monday during hearings over two abortion-related lawsuits and peppered an attorney for the state with tough questions as he argued that a decisive statewide vote last year affirming abortion rights “doesn’t matter.” The court ruled in 2019 that the state constitution protects abortion rights, and voters affirmed that last summer. One of the two cases before the state Supreme Court deals with a 2015 law banning a common second-trimester abortion procedure. The other involves a 2011 law regulating abortion providers more strictly than other health care providers. Neither law has been enforced.