The Kansas Supreme Court struck down a series of abortion rules and restrictions on Friday in twin opinions affirming its landmark decision that the state constitution protects the right to end a pregnancy.

The justices in two near-unanimous decisions tossed a ban on dilation and evacuation abortions, a common second trimester surgical procedure, and a series of abortion-specific clinic regulations that providers have long fought. The opinions marked the end of two years-long legal battles over rules, which never took effect.

The rulings delivered a stinging but expected blow to anti-abortion activists and Republicans, who for years sought to steadily chip away at access. The opinion built upon the court’s key 2019 decision, which upheld the right to an abortion under a broader guarantee of bodily autonomy.

“We stand by our conclusion that section 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights protects a fundamental right to personal autonomy, which includes a pregnant person’s right to terminate a pregnancy,” Justice Eric Rosen, appointed by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in 2005, wrote in the majority opinion striking down the dilation and evacuation ban.

The Bill of Rights says, “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Rosen wrote that the state “must show any infringement of that right withstands strict scrutiny.”

The decision was 5-1 in both cases, with Justice Caleb Stegall, an appointee of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, the sole dissenting vote. Justice K.J. Wall, an appointee of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, didn’t participate.

Kansas has become a crucial national access point for abortion in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to an abortion, leading Missouri and a swatch of mostly southern states to quickly implement bans. Some 20,700 abortions were performed in Kansas in 2023, according to estimates from the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization supportive of abortion rights.

Voters in 2022 rejected a state constitutional amendment that would have overturned the Kansas Supreme Court’s 2019 decision and allowed lawmakers to ban abortion. Any change in abortion regulations in the state is now watched closely for any potential effects to access nationwide.

Friday’s decision likely offers abortion providers greater certainty about the regulatory landscape in the state as they open additional clinics.

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