The Kansas Supreme Court struck down two laws restricting abortion access and reaffirmed its position that the procedure is a constitutionally protected right in the state, according to a report.
The 5-1 decisions, with one of the seven justices not participating, left in place a lower court ruling blocking the law banning dilation and evacuation, a common second-trimester procedure, as well as laws regulating abortion clinics more strictly than other healthcare providers, the Associated Press reported.
"We stand by our conclusion that section 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights protects a fundamental right to personal autonomy, which includes a pregnant person's right to terminate a pregnancy," wrote Justice Eric Rosen in one of the opinions for the majority.
Justice Caleb Stegall, a conservative and the lone dissenter, said the ruling by the majority would damage the court's legitimacy for "years to come" and result in a "legal regime of unrestricted access to abortion."
Abortion rights advocates lauded the decision.
"This is an immense victory for the health, safety and dignity of people in Kansas and the entire Midwestern region, where millions have been cut off from abortion access," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented the abortion providers challenging the two laws.
Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who defended the legislation, called the ruling "disappointing."
"When the word liberty was included in the constitution, no one thought they were creating a right to an abortion," he said in a statement.
