Abortion advocates celebrated a victory over the weekend.
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in a 6-1 decision on Friday that the state’s constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion.
Inalienable rights
The court based its decision on a specific phrase in the state’s constitution — “natural, inalienable rights” — which was pulled originally from the Declaration of Independence. The justices reasoned that this phrase translates to a guarantee of “personal autonomy,” which they said amounts to a “right” to have an abortion.
“The declaration of natural rights, which specifically includes the rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, protects the core right of personal autonomy — which includes the ability to control one’s own body, to assert bodily integrity, and to exercise self-determination,” reads the majority opinion.
Evidently, the court believes woman’s autonomy trumps an unborn child’s right to life.
“This right allows a woman to make her own decisions regarding her body, health, family formation, and family life — decisions that can include whether to continue a pregnancy,” the justices wrote.
The case that gave the justices the opportunity to make this ruling came about as the result of a 2015 law known as the Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act. This act, as its wordy name suggests, was aimed at eliminating particularly egregious kinds of abortion procedures, including dilation and evacuation abortions, that, at times, require the fetus to be dismembered.
After the law passed the Kansas state legislature, it was challenged by two abortion doctors, who ended up taking it the case all the way to the state’s highest court.
Hope for life
The confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh last fall brought a conservative majority back to the Supreme Court, reviving liberals’ concerns about the future of abortion rights. Of course, we can never know for sure how the justices will vote, but with a conservative-leaning panel of jurists, it seems unborn babies still have a glimmer of hope.
Indeed, legislation on the issue has picked up, with 11 states recently banning abortions after 6 weeks. These legislatures are looking to get the Supreme Court’s backing, which may come alongside the overturn of the infamous 1973 case Roe v. Wade.
Still, many conservatives maintain that abortion shouldn’t be decided by the justice system, especially when there is valid state legislation, democratically enacted, on the issue. The left, however, has spent the last several decades using the judiciary to strike down anti-abortion laws.
This Kansas Supreme Court decision is just the most recent example. Another license to kill has been granted.
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