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Circuit court judge temporarily restores access to abortions in KY; injunction hearing set for July 6


This story has been updated.

By Jack Brammer
NKyTribune reporter
 
A state judge granted a request Thursday from three abortion rights advocates to restore access to abortions in Kentucky.

Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry temporarily suspended the state’s 2019 “trigger” law that banned abortions in the state immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court last Friday said there is no federal constitutional right to abortions.

The judge also temporarily blocked a law that bans abortions at six weeks of pregnancy.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Kentucky and Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky had requested the judge’s action in a lawsuit that had its first hearing Wednesday.

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, the state’s only two abortion providers – EMW Women’s Surgical Center (502.589.2124) and Planned Parenthood (317.205.8088), both in Louisville – had stopped its abortions.

Both said Thursday they will resume with abortions.

The lawsuit argues that the bans violate the rights to privacy, bodily autonomy, and self-determination outlined in the Kentucky Constitution.

A hearing on the organizations’ request for a temporary injunction to block the laws during litigation has been scheduled for July 6.
 
“We’re glad the court recognized the devastation happening in Kentucky and decided to block the Commonwealth’s cruel abortion bans,” said the abortion rights advocates in a statement.

“Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe last Friday, numerous Kentuckians have been forced to carry pregnancies against their will or flee their home state in search of essential care.

“Despite this victory, we know this fight is far from over — especially with politicians like Attorney General Daniel Cameron doing everything they can to score political points at the expense of Kentuckians’ wellbeing.

“We won’t stop fighting for people’s ability to access the essential abortion care they need in Kentucky. The government should never have the authority to force a person to remain pregnant against their will.”

Cameron, in a statement said, “In the wake of an historic victory for life at the nation’s highest court, today, one judge in Kentucky has, without basis in the Kentucky Constitution, allowed two clinics to resume abortions. We cannot let the same mistake that happened in Roe v. Wade, nearly 50 years ago, to be made again in Kentucky.

“We will be seeking relief from this order. The U.S. Supreme Court made it abundantly clear in Dobbs that decisions about the protection of life should be decided by the states and the people through their representatives.

“Our General Assembly clearly expressed Kentucky’s support for life by passing the Human Life Protection Act with bipartisan support.  We will do everything possible to continue defending this law and to ensure that unborn life is protected in the Commonwealth.” 

At his regular news conference early Thursday afternoon, Gov. Andy Beshear called the trigger law “an extremist law” that most Kentuckians disagree with because it does not allow for abortions in cases of rape or incest.

It gives women “no options despite the fact that they have been harmed and what they are going through is absolutely no fault of their own.”

He said as attorney general he saw young girls who had been violated even by family members. He said he knew of a case where a 12-year-old girl was impregnated by her stepfather.

Beshear noted that the state General Assembly has shown no inclination to “show compassion to the victims out there that deserve options.”

He said it is “disingenuous” for Cameron to say the trigger law is not extremist. The Republican attorney general is running to unseat Democrat Beshear next year as governor.

Beshear also expressed concern that fertility treatments like in-vitro fertilization could be the next target with a full ban on abortions.

He said a proposed amendment to Kentucky’s Constitution that voters will decide November at the polls provides no options for rape and incest.

Later Thursday, Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed a request for emergency relief at the Court of Appeals, asking for reinstatement of the ‘trigger’ abortion ban and heartbeat law, saying “there is no conceivable basis for restraining enforcement of these two abortion laws.”


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