A spinal implant has two pairs of mounting plates or “staples,” two rods, and a crosslink. Each mounting plate mounts to a lateral side of a spinous process. Each rod interconnects a pair of mounting plates. The crosslink is disposed through the interspinous space and interconnects the rods. The crosslink hinders movement of the rods away from each other. The rods have a flexural modulus less than the mounting plates. The rod flexibility allows a small amount of relative movement of the vertebrae, which may be helpful in promoting fusion.
