Kansas beat the anti-abortion movement twice in two days.
On Monday, Judge Christopher Jayaram issued a 260 page ruling that the state cannot force women to wait 24 hours or answer questions about their finances or their reasons before ending a pregnancy. He wrote that under the Kansas Constitution’s guarantee of bodily autonomy, his ruling was not even a close call. Hours later he was sworn onto the Kansas Supreme Court. On Tuesday, voters crushed a ballot amendment its backers planned to use to ban abortion by remaking that court.
The ruling permanently blocks enforcement. Kansas can still appeal, but that appeal goes to a state Supreme Court that has already ruled bodily autonomy fundamental. The restrictions are gone as long as Kansans keep guarding the court that killed them, which is exactly what they did on Tuesday.
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