LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A federal appeals court has agreed with a lower court that a Kentucky law seeking to ban a common second trimester abortion procedure is illegal.
The law passed in 2018 was struck down last year by a federal judge in Frankfort, who ruled that it creates a “substantial obstacle” to a woman’s right to an abortion.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling on Tuesday.
The court said 10 other states have passed similar laws aimed at restricting abortion procedures.
"In nearly every state, plaintiffs have challenged those laws as unduly burdening the right to elect abortion before viability, as plaintiffs have done here," the majority wrote in the opinion. “And in every challenge brought to date, the court has enjoined the law, finding that it indeed unduly burdens that right,” the justices wrote in a 2-1 ruling.
The Kentucky attorney general’s office argued on behalf of the law before the appeals court in January.
“We’re disappointed with the court’s ruling and will take any steps necessary to continue defending the law, which protects the unborn from a gruesome procedure," said Ky. Attorney General Daniel Cameron in a statement.
Louisville's EMW Clinic and the ACLU of Kentucky challenged the law right after it was signed by former Gov. Matt Bevin. A consent order had suspended its enforcement pending the outcome of the federal court trial.
“Two courts have made it resoundingly clear that D&E abortion care is safe and Kentuckians have a right to access this care,” said Heather Gatnarek, staff attorney with the ACLU of Kentucky in a statement. “The Court of Appeals confirms what we’ve been asserting for years: the Kentucky General Assembly’s attempt to ban D&E abortion care is unconstitutional because it imposes a substantial burden on the right to choose. Our clients are relieved they will be guided by medicine, not politicians, when providing D&E care to their patients.”
The EMW Clinic is the only medical facility providing abortions that remains in Kentucky.
Related stories:
- Federal appeal seeks to reinstate Kentucky abortion law banning 2nd trimester procedure
- 2 abortion bills pass Kentucky House committee as protesters in 'Handmaid's Tale' attire sit in gallery
Copyright 2020 by WDRB Media. The Associated Press contributed to this story. All rights reserved.
