Let the Right-Wing Freak-Out Commence.
The Kansas Supreme Court just ruled that the Constitution protects a woman's right to personal bodily autonomy, including the right to a second-trimester abortion, which the Kansas law being challenged in the suit had banned. This is super helpful, especially given the fact that many states are even passing laws now that ban abortion in the FIRST trimester — before many women even know they are pregnant.
Kansas' ruling goes so far as to say it might even override federal law restrictions on abortion. It will serve as an example for other states to follow. From The Washington Post:
Judges ruled Friday morning that the Kansas protections of the “right of personal autonomy” means state law cannot abridge the right “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.”
The ruling found that Kansas protections could potentially override any federal restrictions on abortion, a finding that could pave the way for legal challenges to abortion laws in other states that are trying to strictly control the procedures. The ruling comes as more than 11 states across the Midwest and south have been passing laws that ban abortion procedures after six weeks — often before women even know they are pregnant.
The people making these laws are regressive, misogynistic hacks, who know nothing of what they are trying to control. Take it from yours truly — a clinic escort who only yesterday surprised an anti by informing him that abortions included incomplete miscarriages. That didn't stop him from comparing me to an Auchwitz guard, but it does show how very little they know, and he was somewhat quieter for the rest of my shift.
And once again, let us all say, THANK YOU, JUDGES.
