Abortion "Dismemberment" Ban Set For Unusual Court Hearing

From The Washington Times:

A first-in-the-nation Kansas abortion law is scheduled to go before all 14 state appellate judges Wednesday — an unusual step that reflects the gravity of the lawsuit, the state says.

The Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act was enacted in Kansas in April. It prohibits, in most cases, use of a certain abortion method — dilation and evacuation, or D&E — that is commonly used between 12 and 22 weeks gestation.

In a D&E, abortion doctors use specific instruments to slice, crush and pull apart a living fetus so that it can be extracted from the woman’s womb.

Lawmakers took action against the “brutal” D&E procedure, saying the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2007 Gonzales v. Carhart ruling says states have a legitimate interest in regulating the medical profession to promote respect for life, including the life of the unborn.

The Kansas dismemberment law has several exemptions: It does not affect abortions that are performed only with suction, cases in which cutting tools are needed to remove a dead fetus from the womb or cases in which continuing the pregnancy could severely injure or kill the pregnant woman.

Read more here.