Flanked by anti-abortion advocates in his own private residence in Cedar Crest, Topeka, Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback officially signed into law a bill that would prohibit the use of an abortion method preferred by doctors and patients because it is the safest method to use during the second trimester.
The law, which will take effect on July 1, makes it illegal for doctors to perform a procedure called dilation and evacuation, which the law redefines as "dismemberment abortion," or "knowingly dismembering a living unborn child and extracting such unborn child one piece at a time from the uterus."
The only exception to the rule is when the procedure is necessary "to preserve the life of the pregnant woman or a continuation of the pregnancy would cause a substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function."
The law was drafted by the National Right to Life Committee, which hopes to bring its anti-abortion stance to other legislatures outside of Kansas. Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina are all currently discussing a similar bill.
“The Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act is the first of what we hope will be many state laws banning dismemberment abortions,” said Carol Tobias, president of the committee. “This law has the power to transform the landscape of abortion policy in the United States.”
Dilation and evacuation, which is the most common technique used for abortions during the 12th to 14th weeks of pregnancy, involves dilating the cervix with medication and pulling out the fetus, often in parts, using forceps. It is considered the safest method during this time of pregnancy, according to Kathleen Morell, a gynecologist, obstetrician, and fellow of Physicians for Reproductive Health. Morell says alternatives such as medication-induced, non-surgical abortion are not as safe and could involve days of waiting and higher expenses.
“When it is safe to offer a choice of induction or dilation and evacuation, my patients overwhelmingly choose dilation and evacuation,” Morell told the New York Times. “They are able to be asleep and comfortable for the procedure and then can go home to their own beds at night.”
Mary Spaulding Balch, director of state legislation of the National Right to Life Committee, says by the second trimester, the fetus develops a beating heart, brain waves, and organ systems already put in place.
However, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, represented by Colleen McNicholas of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says the fetus, at that point, still does not feel pain because it has no neurological system in place yet. She also says that it is possible to inject a drug to kill the fetus first before performing dilation and evacuation, but the drug being eyed for this procedure is not yet tested and could cause complications.
Around nine out of 10 abortions in the entire country happen during the first trimester commonly using a vacuum method that the Kansas law does not prohibit. Estimates peg the number of affected abortions in the state to be at 9 percent.
The law is the latest in a recent series of legal measures restricting women’s choice on abortion. Last year, Missouri passed a law requiring all women to wait 72 hours before getting an abortion, effectively slapping on additional expenses for Missouri’s women traveling to the only Planned Parenthood clinic in the state that offers abortions.
Last week, a 33-year-old Indiana woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for feticide and neglect of a dependent, even though a toxicologist testified that the woman’s blood samples did not contain abortion-inducing drugs.
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