FILE - Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, left, and Erin Hawley, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel, speak to each other outside the Supreme Court after the Court heard oral arguments, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Washington.
Justice K.J. Wall did not participate in either ruling on Friday while Justice Caleb Stegall was the lone dissenter. The health and safety rules aimed specifically at abortion providers were enacted in 2011. Supporters said they would protect women’s health — though there was no evidence provided then documenting that such rules in other states led to better health outcomes. Providers said the real goal was to force them out of business.
The D&E procedure ban would have forced providers to use alternative methods that the Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion-rights advocacy group, has said are riskier for the patient and more expensive.