On Friday, the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld a lower court order that stopped a ban on the most common second-trimester abortion procedure, according to the New York Times.
The Court’s vote was split at 7-7; however, the lower court’s ruling is always affirmed in a tie. If anything, the vote just shows how controversial of a subject abortion is throughout the state.
“The rights of Kansas women in 2016 are not limited to those specifically intended by the men who drafted our state’s constitution in 1859,” said Judge Steve Leben, who wrote on behalf of the seven judges that voted to block the law, according to the Associated Press. These judges decided that Kansas’ state Constitution protects the right to an abortion through its language about personal liberties, though abortion is not mentioned specifically.
While Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, called the ruling “a landmark victory for Kansas women” in a statement, not everyone is happy with the decision.
One person in particular is Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who already said that the state will appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court.
The blocked law was originally signed by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who is also trying to de-fund Planned Parenthood. Despite many politicians attempting to restrict abortion across the country, this law was the first to ban the specific procedure known as “dilation and evacuation.”
According to the New York Times, doctors say that this method is usually the safest abortion technique for the second trimester, which starts after about 12 weeks.