Judge blocks Kan. abortion clinic licensing law

TOPEKA, Kan. - A federal judge has temporarily blocked Kansas from enforcing new rules for its abortion providers.

U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia issued an order Friday after a hearing in a lawsuit against a new Kansas licensing law and regulations issued by the state health department. The law and regulations took effect Friday.

Kansas enacted a law earlier this year establishing a special licensing process for abortion providers, and the state's three abortion clinics were forced to either get licenses or stop offering the procedure on July 1.

Murguia's order remains in effect until a trial in the lawsuit is settled.

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The lawsuit was filed by two doctors who perform abortions at the Center for Women's Health in the Kansas City-area suburb of Overland Park. The center and another clinic, Aid for Women in Kansas City, haven't been licensed and couldn't legally continue to perform abortions.

The state's third provider, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, received a license Thursday.

The ruling comes just a day after another federal judge blocked a strict abortion law in South Dakota.

U.S. District Chief Judge Karen Schreier on Thursday granted Planned Parenthood's preliminary injunction, making the law -- which would mandate a longest-in-the-nation three day waiting period and counseling -- invalid while it's being challenged in court.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said the state must decide whether to appeal the preliminary injunction, continue to argue the merits of the case, discuss a potential settlement or do nothing.

He said he has reached out to legislative leaders and the governor's office but can't yet say what course of action the state will take.

"At this point, I need to fully read the decision and discuss it with the attorneys involved in the case, the governor and legislative leadership," Jackley said Thursday evening.

Planned Parenthood in its lawsuit said the legislation violates a woman's constitutional right to abortion established under the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.