Lawsuit filed against Kansas law nullifying end-of-life choices for pregnant women

Three women and two physicians are suing to block a Kansas law that invalidates a pregnant woman's advance medical directive about end-of-life treatment.

The plaintiffs — one of whom is currently pregnant — are challenging the constitutionality of a clause in the state’s Natural Death Act that denies pregnant women the option to make advance directives to accept or refuse healthcare if they become incapacitated or terminally ill.

Patient plaintiffs Emma Vernon, Abigail Ottaway and Laura Stratton and physician plaintiffs Michele Bennett and Lynley Holman filed the lawsuit on Thursday. It argues that the clause violates the right to personal autonomy, privacy, equal treatment and freedom of speech by ignoring the end-of-life decisions of pregnant women.

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Vernon, the pregnant plaintiff, wrote an advance healthcare directive stating that, if pregnant and diagnosed with a terminal condition, she would only like to receive life-sustaining treatment if "there is a reasonable medical certainty" that her child would reach full term and be born "with a meaningful prospect of sustained life and without significant conditions that would substantially impair its quality of life."

The lawsuit says her directive has not been "given the same deference the law affords to others who complete directives because of the Pregnancy Exclusion, and therefore she does not benefit from the same level of certainty that the directive otherwise provides."

All states have laws allowing people to write advance directives on the medical care they would like to receive if they become unable to make their own health decisions. Nine states, including Kansas, have clauses to invalidate a pregnant woman's advance directive.

The physicians who joined the lawsuit said the law requires them to provide pregnant patients with a lower standard of care than other patients and opens them up to civil and criminal lawsuits as well as professional penalties.

The lawsuit says the doctors "are deeply committed to the foundational medical principle that patients have a fundamental right to determine what treatment they receive, and that providing treatment without a patient’s informed consent violates both medical ethics and the law."

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"Yet Kansas law compels them to disregard their patients’ clearly expressed end-of-life decisions, forcing them to provide their pregnant patients with a lower standard of care than any of their other patients receive," it continues. "It demands this diminished care without offering any clarity on what end-of-life treatment they are required to provide—leaving them to guess at what the law expects while exposing them to civil, criminal, and professional consequences for getting it wrong."

The defendants in the lawsuit are Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, Kansas State Board of Healing Arts President Richard Bradbury and Douglas County District Attorney Dakota Loomis.

Marine restrains man allegedly trying to open plane’s emergency exit during flight

A U.S. Marine heading back to the states from Tokyo, Japan, quickly stepped in and slammed a man to the ground and restrained him with zip ties after he allegedly grabbed the emergency exit door in the middle of a flight, according to reports.

NBC reported Sergeant Major Jody Armentrout was on Flight 114 from Tokyo to Houston when he saw a man acting suspiciously.

Armentrout, who has been in the Marines over 20 years, is stationed in Japan, and he told the media company he witnessed a suspicious man take his backpack to one bathroom before going from bathroom to bathroom.

"He came out of that one and began pacing up and down the aisle, so that just threw my radar on," the 50-year-old Marine reportedly said during a phone interview.

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Armentrout said the man was looking at the emergency exit door next to him, and that’s when the Marine quickly got up and placed himself between the man and the door.

The suspicious man turned around and ran around the plane before darting to an exit door on the opposite side of the aircraft.

Armentrout told the station he only had seconds to act.

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"He grabbed a strap around the door, pulled it off and about that time is when I took him and slammed him, put him on the ground," he said. "And then there was an older gentleman sitting on that side that woke up, and he got up and kind of helped me."

Flight attendants also stepped in and handed the marine zip ties, which he reportedly used to restrain the man’s wrists and secure him to a seat.

For the remainder of the flight, Armentrout sat next to the man.

The flight was diverted to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

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"His eyes … you could definitely tell there was something going on," Armentrout said.

FBI Seattle confirmed the incident, saying it, along with the Port of Seattle Police Department, responded to All Nippon Flight 114 Saturday morning.

"The flight was diverted to Seattle due to a passenger attempting to open the exit doors mid-flight," FBI Seattle said. "The crew and passengers restrained the individual, who was transported to a local hospital for medical evaluation after the flight landed.

The FBI also said a second individual was removed from the flight after becoming frustrated with the flight diversion and punching a bathroom door.

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The flight continued to its destination after its stop in Seattle and landed in Houston without further incident.

No charges have been filed in the incident, the FBI said.

Prosecutors are reviewing reports and witness statements to determine if the case is appropriate for federal prosecution.

All Nippon Airways told Fox News Digital the flight was diverted due to an "unruly" passenger.

"While on the tarmac in Seattle, a second passenger became unruly," the airline said. "Both were removed from the flight by the Port of Seattle Police.

"The safety of our passengers and crew are our top priority, and we applaud the efforts of local law enforcement for their support."

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