by Catholic News Service
A Kansas District Court judge June 25 granted a temporary injunction against Kansas' Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act, which was to take effect Wednesday.
The law bans the dilation and evacuation abortion procedure -- which pro-life advocates describe as "dismemberment" -- that is commonly used during the second trimester of pregnancy.
"Today's injunction leaves unborn children vulnerable to painful death by dismemberment," said Mary Spaulding Balch, National Right to Life's director of state legislation.
"The fact that the practice of dismembering an innocent, living unborn child is legally protected killing should outrage people everywhere," she said. "Dismembering living unborn children needs to be outlawed."
The law allows the procedure when it is necessary to protect the life or health of the mother.
Based on model legislation from National Right to Life, the measure was passed overwhelmingly by both houses of the Kansas Legislature earlier this year and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed suit against the law. The injunction blocking it will stay in place while the judge, Shawnee County District Court Judge Larry Hendricks, considers the lawsuit further.
In an interview in February with Catholic News Service, Brownback called the second-trimester procedure "a graphic reminder about how horrific abortion is. There are actually abortions performed in the U.S. today where you actually dismember an unborn child to pull it out. ... You wouldn't do that to a dog, yet it's legal in the United States."
