2 doctors sue over abortion law

TOPEKA, Kan. - Two Kansas doctors filed a lawsuit Friday in state court seeking to overturn a sweeping new anti-abortion law set to take effect in July, only a day after Planned Parenthood attacked portions of that law in a federal lawsuit.

Dr. Herbert Hodes and his daughter, Dr. Traci Nauser, contend in their lawsuit that the new law violates their rights to equal protection as guaranteed by the Kansas Constitution. The law blocks tax breaks for abortion providers and prohibits them from furnishing materials or instructors for public schools’ human-sexuality classes.

Hodes and Nauser perform abortions at their health center in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park. They previously filed a lawsuit in 2011 against health and safety regulations imposed specifically for abortion providers, and that’s still pending in Shawnee County, preventing the state from enforcing the rules.

This time, Hodes and Nauser also are challenging provisions of this year’s law spelling out what information doctors must provide to women before terminating their pregnancies, including a statement that abortion ends the life of a “whole, separate, unique, living human being.” They also object to a ban on sex-selection abortions, arguing there’s no proof any are performed in Kansas and that the provision is designed to “chill the performance of abortions.”

“The Act imposes a host of punitive and discriminatory requirements on women seeking abortion services in Kansas and the conscientious physicians who provide those services,” the lawsuit, filed in Shawnee County District Court, said.

Planned Parenthood’s clinic in Overland Park and its medical director sued the state on Thursday, limiting its federal court challenge to “informed consent” provisions and a requirement that a provider’s website link to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Planned Parenthood argues those provisions violate free-speech rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Front Section, Pages 5 on 06/22/2013

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