TOPEKA, Kan. -- Kansas still has one abortion provider, but two others that don't have state licenses were hoping to persuade a federal judge to block a new licensing law and health department regulations they consider burdensome.The state attorney general's office argued ahead of a Friday hearing in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., that a license granted to a Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri clinic disproves critics' contention that the new Kansas rules are designed to cut off access to abortion.
The licensing law was part of a wave of anti-abortion legislation enacted across the nation this year, but had none of its three providers received a license, Kansas would have been the only state in the nation without a clinic or doctor's office performing abortions.
Its regulations tell providers what drugs and equipment they must stock, set acceptable temperatures for procedure and recovery rooms and set minimum sizes for some rooms. Supporters believe those rules will protect patients. But abortion-rights advocates have called the licensing process a "sham" because Gov. Sam Brownback is an anti-abortion Republican, and abortion foes pushed the law through the GOP-controlled Legislature.
Planned Parenthood received a license Thursday from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, after initially being denied but having inspectors visit its clinic in Overland Park a second time. The new licensing law and the accompanying regulations, drafted over a few weeks, took effect Friday.
The lawsuit before U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia was filed earlier this week by Drs. Herbert Hodes and Traci Nauser, who provide abortions and other services at the Center for Women's Health, also in Overland Park. The state's other provider is the Aid for Women Clinic in Kansas City, and it's seeking to intervene.
The attorney general's office attached the Planned Parenthood license in a court document filed Thursday evening, shortly after the health department confirmed it had granted a license to one of the state's providers and Planned Parenthood identified itself as the recipient.
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Source: Huffington
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