TOPEKA ? Top Republican legislators are blocking a debate in Kansas on banning most abortions early in pregnancy while engineering passage of a bill to make technical changes in anti-abortion laws.

The Legislature has strong GOP and anti-abortion majorities in each chamber. The handling of abortion issue this year reflects a split among abortion opponents over tactics for further limiting the termination of pregnancies.

Some anti-abortion lawmakers favor banning most abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, sometimes as early as the sixth week of pregnancy.

But other abortion foes fear enacting such a law would lead to court rulings not only striking down such a ban but eliminating restrictions already in place.

Yet abortion opponents also want to make technical changes in existing restrictions to address legal issues.