A Kansas judge has blocked a law that made the state the first in the country to ban a common procedure used during second-trimester abortions. Based on model legislation from the anti-choice National Right to Life Committee, the measure banned doctors from using instruments to remove a fetus in pieces. It allowed exceptions only to save a woman’s life or prevent irreversible damage to a major bodily function. On Thursday, a Shawnee County district court judge ruled the measure would unfairly burden women seeking abortions.