A new class action suit claims that a woman seeking an abortion cannot receive adequate treatment in Kentucky. LOUISVILLE, Ky.
A new class action lawsuit filed Tuesday challenges Kentucky’s bans on abortions saying that a woman who wants to abort her pregnancy, and all those in similar situations, are ‘experiencing medical, constitutional, and continuing harm.’
The lawsuit accuses the woman, who is using a pseudonym Mary Poe and is about seven weeks pregnant, of wanting to have an abortion but has been unable to do so due to the bans in Kentucky.
The suit aims to enjoin the defendants, Attorney General Russell Coleman, Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander, Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure Executive Director Michael Rodman, and Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerina Whethers, from enforcing the laws.
The bans have been in place since June 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.
Kentucky legislators had enacted a “trigger ban” during the 2019 General Assembly that banned all abortions as soon as that Supreme Court ruling was reversed.
Another ban is also against abortions before checking for the existence of the fetal heartbeat.
This ban becomes a Class D felony if embryonic or fetal cardiac activity is present and there are no exceptions for rape or incest to help terminate the pregnancy.
The lawsuit claims that the bans are a violation of the rights of privacy and self-autonomy of Poe and all other Kentuckians.
It also argues that the bans affect Black people in Kentucky and those with low incomes more than others.
“This is my personal choice, a choice I should make on my own and not by influence of other people,” Poe said.
“This case is being brought to make sure that other Kentuckians will not have to endure what I am going through and instead they will be able to get the health care they need in our community.”
Supporters of abortion rights and their opponents respond to the lawsuit in Kentucky Anti-abortion activists are already referring to the lawsuit as “frivolous.”
The Family Foundation, a public policy organization labeled as promoting “Biblical values,” issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon denouncing the legal arguments.
“This new legal attack on preborn Kentuckians and their mothers is as meritless as the previous failed challenges,” said executive director David Walls.
“The ACLU has the audacity to claim that the Kentucky Constitution has a hidden provision for the right to kill the unborn human being and stop the beating of their heart while Kentucky has been a right to life state for 150 years.”
The ACLU of Kentucky stands with Poe and for efforts to ‘reclaim abortion rights in the commonwealth,’ Duke said, adding that voters rejected a constitutional amendment to remove the right to abortion in the state in 2022.
“While we successfully defended against an abortion ban in the state constitution through the ballot this past November, this lawsuit, filed by someone seeking care, is the next chapter in dismantling the bans currently in place,” Duke said in the release.
“We look forward to a final triumph that is in the best interest of the people and which will reverse these unconstitutional bans.”
Most Recent Legal Challenge To Kentucky Woman Abortion Laws In The United States
The suit is the newest in a series of legal actions against restrictive abortion laws across the United States; several Republican-controlled states have sought to reduce women’s access to abortion services in the last two years.
After the decision of the supreme court that legalized abortion was reversed. Wade, currently, at least 14 states have passed near-total bans on abortion.
Two Texas women filed federal complaints in August against hospitals that refused to perform abortions for ectopic pregnancies.
A woman from Kansas is suing the University of Kansas Health System after the medical center turned her away in 2022 when she sought an emergency abortion in July.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June affirmed a district court ruling that federal law preempts Idaho’s near-total ban on abortion in cases of medical emergencies but legal challenges to the law are likely to persist.
Other states have attempted to codify the right to abortion in state law or have passed what are known as shield laws to protect patients from other states who come to their state for an abortion.
Guttmacher Institute data published earlier this year showed that more than 171000 patients had to go to other states to get an abortion in 2023.