Judge blocks abortion notification requirements in Kansas

(The Sentinel) – A Kansas court has temporarily blocked a long-standing abortion law called the “Women’s Right to Know Act.”

On Oct. 30, Johnson County District Court Judge Krishnan Christopher Jayaram issued a temporary injunction against several provisions of the law — first enacted in 1997 and updated just last year after the landmark ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

Jayaram wrote in the more than 90-page injunction, “The Act appears to be a thinly veiled effort to stigmatize the procedure and instill fear in patients that are contemplating an abortion, such that they make an alternative choice, based upon disproven and unsupportable claims.”

The injunction blocks requirements for women to be informed they have a right to change their minds and withdraw their consent to the procedure.  The law includes a 24-hour waiting period and access to an ultrasound or to hear a fetal heartbeat — at no additional charge – as well as information about abortion alternatives, medical risks, and complications. Other requirements now temporarily blocked include:

• Gestational age of the child.
• Disclosure of any disciplinary action against the provider — such as former doctor Krishna Rajanna who lost his license in 2005 after multiple fines for failing to keep a hygienic clinic, and in 2012 dumped medical records in a recycling bin.

Additionally, Jayaram blocked a provision that would have required clinics to provide women with information about abortion pill reversal information which can reverse the effects of a medication abortion if administered after the first pill is taken.

The Kansas Reflector, in a seemingly unresearched editorial comment in its news story, wrote: “Under the injunction issued by the judge, abortion providers can disregard a new law that would have required them to tell patients it might be possible to reverse a medication abortion. This supposed ‘abortion reversal’ is based on junk science and has been known to cause hemorrhaging.”

ABC News reports, “In an August hearing, Judge Jayaram said his reading of medical literature showed that any valid studies do not confirm the regimen’s effectiveness. Major medical groups consider the regimen ineffective and potentially unsafe.”

However, a simple Google search by The Sentinel found a 2016 study on Pubmed — a medical literature repository site — which concludes: “There was no apparent increased risk of birth defects. The reversal of the effects of mifepristone using progesterone is safe and effective.[emphasis added].”  

Abortions have also been known to cause hemorrhaging.

Kansans for Life notes that worldwide at least 4,500 medical abortions have been reversed — most of them in the U.S.

“This is a nightmare for women and a dream come true for the profit-driven abortion industry,” said Danielle Underwood, communications director of Kansans for Life, in a statement. “Women will pay the price for the deceitful practices of the abortion industry that consistently puts its own profits above all else.”

Kansas Speaker of the House Dan Hawkins agreed.

“For over 25 years, The Women’s Right to Know Act has empowered and protected vulnerable Kansas women who are considering a pregnancy termination by providing valuable information that is often withheld by the for-profit abortion industry,” Hawkins said in a statement. “Informed consent is an integral part of any doctor-patient relationship, and abortion is no exception. Sadly, this court decision temporarily erases common sense protections for the mother. We are discouraged by this court’s ruling but will continue to stand strong for a woman’s right to medical information as this case continues through the court system.” 

Arguments on the merits of the case are set for summer 2024.