Kansas abortion ban remains in effect
WICHITA, Kan. – The Kansas Court of Appeals refused Friday to allow the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester abortion method to take effect, saying in a split decision that the Kansas Constitution protects abortion rights independent of the U.S. Constitution.
The 7-7 ruling was released on the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. Tie votes from the appeals court uphold the lower-court ruling being appealed, meaning that seven appellate judges agreed with a county judge who said the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights has general statements about personal liberties that create independent protections for abortion rights.
The decision is expected to be appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court.
North Korea arrests U.S. university student
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea on Friday announced the arrest of a university student from Ohio for what it called a “hostile act” orchestrated by the American government to undermine the authoritarian nation.
In language that mirrors past North Korean claims of outside conspiracies, Pyongyang’s state media said the University of Virginia student, who attended high school outside Cincinnati, entered the country under the guise of a tourist and plotted to destroy North Korean unity with “the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation.” The date of his arrest wasn’t clear.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said in a short report that the student, whom it identified as Warmbier Otto Frederick, was “arrested while perpetrating a hostile act,” but it didn’t explain the nature of the act.
The University of Virginia’s online student directory lists Otto Frederick Warmbier as an undergraduate commerce student.
Associated Press
