In Utah and Kansas, state courts flex power over new laws regulating abortion post-Roe

By JOHN HANNA and SAM METZ
Associated Press

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Abortion providers faced off against attorneys for Utah and Kansas in state courts Tuesday, part of the ongoing fight after last year’s Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The arguments heard in both states Tuesday illustrate how state courts have become hot spots in the fight over abortion. Utah’s Supreme Court will rule in coming weeks on a trigger law banning most abortions that was put on hold more than a year ago. In Kansas, providers asked a trial-court judge to block a new restriction on how they dispense abortion medications as well as older rules governing what doctors must tell patients.