Kansas agrees to temporary pause in enforcing new law on medication abortions

By JOHN HANNA
AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials have agreed, for now, not to enforce a new restriction on medication abortions. The agreement announced Tuesday means that enforcement won’t begin July 1 as planned but will wait at least five weeks. Providers have asked a state court judge in Johnson County in the Kansas City area to decide whether to put the law on hold as he considers a lawsuit from providers challenging it and existing rules that include a 24-hour waiting period for patients seeking abortions. Providers won’t have to tell patients that they can stop a medication abortion using a regimen that major medical groups consider unproven. The judge has set an Aug. 8 hearing.