Kansas Relents and Allows a Single Abortion Provider in the State, but That’s Not Good Enough for the Judge
Monday, July 04, 2011
State health officials in Kansas blinked this week and granted a license to Planned Parenthood to perform abortions, avoiding becoming the only state in the nation without a single provider of the controversial medical procedure. But a federal judge stepped in on Friday and blocked the state from enforcing its new regulations.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued rules on June 17 that mandated a series of new requirements for clinics offering abortions. Providers had to comply with the new rules in order to obtain a license to perform abortions.
The regulations stipulated what drugs and equipment providers must stock, set acceptable temperatures for procedures and recovery rooms and required minimum sizes for some rooms.
Abortion-rights advocates called the new rules and licensing process a “sham” because the law mandating the changes was pushed by Governor Sam Brownback and other GOP anti-abortion politicians in the state legislature.
At one point this week it appeared Planned Parenthood would have to stop performing abortions because the state denied it a license. The group then filed a lawsuit to block the new licensing rules, and it was only after that action that the state relented and granted the license.
Two other abortion providers were left without a license, prompting the father-daughter owners of the Overland Park medical clinic to file their own lawsuit against the state.
U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia’s injunction, which is in response to the Overland Park lawsuit, will stay in effect until a trial is held. Murguia said evidence showed the providers would be harmed through the loss of business and patients. He also said that at least two women currently seeking abortions would be harmed by being denied the provider of their choice.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Kansas Abortion Rules Blocked by Federal Judge (by John Hanna, Associated Press)
Kansas Health Regulators Grant Last-Minute License to Planned Parenthood (by Brad Cooper, Kansas City Star)
Kansas Abortion Docs Say New Law Is a “Sham” That Is “Stacked Against” Them (by Jillian Rayfield, Talking Points Memo)
Overland Park Clinic Owners Sue over Kansas Abortion Regulations (by David Twiddy, Kansas City Business Journal)
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