TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court will hear arguments March 16 in a case challenging a law that bans a second-trimester abortion procedure.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports (http://bit.ly/2jowGmk ) two doctors have challenged a 2015 law that bans doctors from using forceps, clamps, scissors or similar instruments to remove a live fetus in pieces. Such instruments are used in certain dilation and evacuation procedures, which abortion rights supporters say are safer for the woman.

A Shawnee County judge ruled the Kansas Constitution protects abortion rights independently of the U.S. Constitution and temporarily blocked the ban. An appeals court was split, leaving the ban in place.

If the state Supreme Court agrees with the county judge, abortion opponents are concerned that state courts could reject abortion restrictions even if upheld by federal courts.