Gov. Matt Bevin’s legal team will be in U.S. District Court this week in Louisville to argue on behalf of House Bill 454 (HB 454), which bans live dismemberment abortions.
HB 454, passed by the 2018 Kentucky General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support from legislators and signed into law by Gov. Bevin on April 10, is being challenged by the ACLU and a Louisville abortion clinic.
The Bevin Administration, represented by attorneys from the Governor’s Office and from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, will argue that without HB 454, unborn children will continue to be torn limb from limb while still alive — a practice that “would be punishable as a crime were the subject an animal rather than an unborn human.” They will further assert that the new law is in the best interest of the state because it protects the dignity of the unborn and ensures that the ethics of the medical profession in Kentucky reflect the values of the Commonwealth.
HB 454 does not prohibit D&E abortions. However, it does ban the type of D&E abortion procedure that causes fetal death through the process of live dismemberment.
The new law prohibits the dismemberment of an unborn child and requires the more humane practice of ensuring fetal demise before the limbs are dissected from the body and removed from the womb.
A copy of the pre-trial brief filed by Gov. Bevin’s legal team on Nov. 2 can be viewed here.
In a short, one-page brief filed in May 2018, Attorney General Andy Beshear chose once again not to defend the law. AG Beshear’s brief can be viewed here.
