Judge: 2019 ruling nullifies Kansas abortion procedure ban

(AP) A judge has ruled that a Kansas law banning a common second-trimester abortion procedure is “unconstitutional and unenforceable” under a 2019 state Supreme Court ruling protecting abortion rights. Shawnee County District Judge Teresa Watson’s decision Wednesday was the first on abortion from a lower court since the decision from the state’s highest court. But Kansas has been unable to enforce the law since it was enacted in 2015 because of a lawsuit from two abortion providers. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that access to abortion is a “fundamental” right under the state constitution but returned the case to district court for further review of the law.