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| Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt |
The law bans parents from filing lawsuits against doctors who did not inform them that the child has been diagnosed with a condition—such as Down syndrome—or the potential "risks" or "burdens" of having a child with a condition. Parents who file such lawsuits argue that they would have considered abortion if doctors had provided them with this information.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who fought against legalizing "wrongful birth" lawsuits, applauded the Kansas Supreme Court's decision.
“The birth of a child should be cause for celebration, not for the law to award damages because the child was ‘wrongfully’ born,” he told the Associated Press.
Kansas pro-lifers were surprised at the court's decision, as they had ruled in favor of pro-abortion advocates as recently as 2019. In that year, the court ruled 6-1 that abortion was a protected right in the state's constitution.
