The Kansas Senate has approved a bill that would ban a specific type of abortion procedure. KMUW's Aileen LeBlanc reports...
In a 31-9 vote, the Senate passed the measure called the Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act.
If passed, the act would ban using forceps, clamps, tongs, scissors or similar instruments to intentionally dismember a fetus before removal.
Other dilation and evacuation techniques that use just suction are not part of the ban.
The procedure is sometimes used in the second trimester of pregnancy. Any abortion in Kansas is banned after 21.6 weeks of gestation.
National Right to Life helped craft the bill's language.
Trust Women of Wichita has said that the ban "criminalizes doctors and prevents them from using their medical judgment to decide which procedure is best for their patients."
