TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The latest on the Kansas Court of Appeals decision on whether to allow the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester
abortion method (all times local):

12:15 p.m.

A national abortion-rights group says the Kansas Court of Appeals has issued a groundbreaking ruling in blocking enforcement of a ban on a common second-trimester abortion procedure.

The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights noted that the Friday decision was the first time an appellate court in the conservative state said the Kansas Constitution protects abortion rights independently of the U.S. Constitution.

The decision was 7-7, allowing a trial-court judge’s injunction against the 2015 law to stand.

Other abortion rights advocates also hailed the decision. Julie Burkhart, founder of the group Trust Women and the South Wind Women’s Center, says she’s elated.

Burkhart says “women deserve the right to access necessary reproductive health care without undue governmental interference.”

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11:15 a.m.

An anti-abortion leader and a top Kansas legislator are dismayed by a Kansas Court of Appeals ruling that blocks enforcement of the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester abortion procedure.

David Gittrich of Kansans for Life said his group will work to oust Kansas Court of Appeals judges in elections later this year. Gittrich says the judges aren’t accountable to voters, but “they will be accountable to God.”

Kansas Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce says he can’t imagine a scenario where the framers of the Kansas Constitution meant to legalize abortion.

Appeals court judges split 7-7 in a ruling Friday over whether the Kansas Constitution protects abortion rights independently of the U.S. Constitution. The split means a lower court judge’s injunction blocking the law remains in effect.

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10 a.m.

The Kansas Court of Appeals ruled in a split decision that the state’s constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion independent of the rights granted by the U.S. Constitution.

The court made the statement Friday in a 7-7 ruling that maintains a temporary hold on the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester abortion method.

Tie votes from the appeals court uphold the lower-court ruling being appealed. That means seven judges agreed with a lower court judge, who ruled that the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights has general statements about personal liberties that create independent protections for abortion rights.

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9:40 a.m.

The Kansas Court of Appeals has refused to allow the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester abortion method to take effect.

The court released the ruling Friday, the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.

A lower court put the law on hold last year. The state’s second-highest court upheld that decision Friday, though an appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court is expected.

The case comes in a lawsuit filed by two abortion providers who say the 2015 law unconstitutionally burdens women seeking abortions.

The law prohibits doctors from using forceps or similar instruments on a live fetus to remove it from the womb in pieces. The Center for Reproductive Rights says the procedure is the safest and most common second-trimester abortion method in the U.S.

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1 a.m.

The Kansas Court of Appeals is deciding whether to allow the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester abortion method.

The court is expected to release its decision Friday, the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.

The lawsuit was filed by two abortion providers who said the 2015 law unconstitutionally burdens women seeking to end their pregnancies. A lower court has temporarily put the law on hold.

At issue is whether the Kansas Constitution’s broad language about individual liberty protects abortion rights.

The law prohibits doctors from using forceps or similar instruments on a live fetus to remove it from the womb in pieces. The Center for Reproductive Rights says the procedure is the safest and most common in the U.S. in the second trimester.

BY MEGAN HART

A proposed bill would cross-check Kansans receiving cash assistance, food stamps or subsidized child care with a list of lottery winners who received more than $10,000, Republican lawmakers said Thursday.

Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, a Republican from Shawnee who spoke at a Statehouse news conference about the bill, said she wasn’t aware of any cases in Kansas where a lottery winner continued to collect assistance, but similar incidents in other states generated widespread anger.

“This is very important to protect the taxpayers,” she said.

The bill, which has yet to be introduced in the Legislature, also would require state agencies to verify the identities of any adults in a household that receives one or more of those three forms of assistance, said Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Republican from Wichita.

It also would require people who receive cash assistance or subsidized child care to participate with fraud investigations and monitor “excessive” lost benefit cards, which could be a sign the recipient is giving the cards to someone else, he said.

Hawkins said the bill also contains “cleanup” language related to work requirements and lifetime cash assistance limits in the Hope, Opportunity and Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE) Act, which the Legislature approved last year.

He said he couldn’t specify the language at the moment. The act limited cash assistance to 36 months, down from 48 months, and required food stamp recipients to work at least 20 hours per week or participate in job training.

It also prohibited cash recipients from using their benefit cards at movie theaters, swimming pools, jewelry stores and tattoo parlors, among other places.

Republican lawmakers pointed to the HOPE Act as a success, saying the number of non-disabled adults receiving some form of assistance had fallen by 70 percent, and that adults receiving food stamps who didn’t have a disability were three times more likely to be working than before. As of October, 459 Kansans receiving cash assistance had reported they were newly employed, with average wages of $9.67 per hour and an average of 30.5 hours of work per week.

If a person worked 52 weeks per year at those averages, it would mean an annual income of $15,336, which would be above the federal poverty line for a single person but below the line for a family of two.

Rep. Willie Dove, a Republican from Bonner Springs, said he had used welfare while living in New Jersey. Helping people to develop work skills would be the “most compassionate” way to assist them, he said.

“The future is dark when you’re given everything on a platter with no responsibility,” Dove said.

Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The family of a disabled Wichita woman is asking for help after thieves stole the woman’s wheelchair ramp from her front porch.

Stephanie Rozendal discovered the $600 ramp missing when she woke up Thursday morning. Her family believes someone took the ramp, which was made of aluminum, to sell for scrap.

KAKE-TV reports Rozendal had three strokes that made it difficult for her to use her right leg and to speak.

Her goddaughter, Stephanie Rozendal, says the theft was reported to police but the ramp hasn’t been located.

She says Tedrow can’t afford another ramp and feels like she’s lost her freedom.

HUTCHINSON — A Kansas woman was arrested on warrants, but also new charges after a Hutchinson Police Officer stopped her just after 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

The officer spotted Jessica Cox, 33, Hutchinson, and knew she was wanted on several warrants.

During the arrest, officers discovered she had a leather jacket that contained items consistent with drug use.

She was carrying bags of methamphetamine and some prescription drugs. Offices also found a black scale and a container with a liquid she apparently used for tests to see if she’s under the influence, according to police.

She faces charges including possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute and possession of the prescription drugs.

Total bond in the case against Cox is set at $24,000. She is expected back in court next week once the state files formal charges.

Cox has been on community corrections for convictions for two counts of theft and two counts of introducing contraband into a correctional facility. She has been listed as an absconder from corrections since Dec. 16, that according to the Kansas Department of Corrections website.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Senate committee chairman has imposed a dress code that prohibits women testifying on an elections or ethics bill from wearing certain clothing while establishing no wardrobe restrictions exclusively for men.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a rule of Sen. Mitch Holmes’ 11-point code of conduct says “low-cut necklines and miniskirts” are inappropriate for women.

Holmes says he offered detailed guidance to women because he had observed provocatively clad women at the state Capitol. He says it’s a distraction to the Senate committee during testimony.

A group of bipartisan women senators says no chairman ought to place gender-specific demands on those inspired to share thoughts on public policy with legislative committees.

Holmes is a St. John Republican and chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.