Current:Home > FinanceKentucky woman seeking abortion files lawsuit over state bans -MoneyBase
Kentucky woman seeking abortion files lawsuit over state bans
View
Date:2025-04-18 09:20:22
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new class action lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks to strike down Kentucky's bans on abortions, arguing that a woman seeking to terminate her pregnancy and others in similar positions are "suffering medical, constitutional, and irreparable harm."
The lawsuit alleges that the woman, who is using the pseudonym Mary Poe and is about seven weeks pregnant, is seeking to terminate her pregnancy but has been blocked by bans in place in Kentucky. The suit seeks to prevent 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 struck down the Roe v. Wade decision. Kentucky lawmakers had passed a "trigger ban" during the 2019 General Assembly that immediately outlawed all abortions when that Supreme Court decision was overturned.
A separate ban prohibits abortions before determining whether a fetal heartbeat exists. If embryonic or fetal cardiac activity is detected, this ban makes it a Class D felony to assist in terminating the pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest.
The lawsuit alleges the bans "are an affront to the health and dignity of all Kentuckians," and they violate the rights to privacy and self-determination of Poe and others. It also says the bans disproportionately impact Black people in Kentucky and those with low incomes.
The woman who filed the lawsuit is being represented by attorneys with Kaplan, Johnson, Abate & Bird law firm along with the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Kentucky.
In a news release, Poe said she believes ending her pregnancy is "the best decision for me and my family," but she is "overwhelmed and frustrated" by the lack of abortion access in Kentucky. She's currently making arrangements for the procedure in another state where abortions are legal, an "enormous" burden while juggling a job and child care.
"This is my personal decision, a decision I believe should be mine alone, not one made by anyone else," Poe said. "I am bringing this case to ensure that other Kentuckians will not have to go through what I am going through, and instead will be able to get the health care they need in our community.”
'Just waiting to crash':When pregnancy turned to miscarriage, woman says Georgia's abortion laws delayed the care she needed
Abortion rights supporters, critics react to Kentucky lawsuit
Those who oppose abortion were quick to call the lawsuit "meritless." The Family Foundation, a public policy organization focused on "Biblical values," released a statement Tuesday afternoon criticizing the legal arguments.
"This new legal attack on preborn Kentuckians and their mothers is as meritless as the previous failed challenges," executive director David Walls said in a statement. "The ACLU’s suggestion that the Kentucky Constitution somehow secretly contains a hidden right to terminate the life and stop the beating heart of an unborn human being, despite Kentucky’s clear 150-year pro-life history, is absolutely absurd."
Amber Duke, executive director at the ACLU of Kentucky, said her organization supports Poe and supports the push to "restore abortion access in the commonwealth," noting voters defeated a proposed amendment that would have eliminated the right to abortion from the state constitution in 2022.
"While that victory at the ballot box kept an abortion ban out of the state constitution, this lawsuit, brought by a person actively seeking care, is the next step in overturning the bans currently in place," Duke said in the release. "We hope for an ultimate victory that aligns with the will of the people and overturns these unconstitutional bans.”
Latest lawsuit against abortion restrictions in the U.S.
The suit is the latest legal challenge against abortion restrictions across the U.S. as some Republican-led states have increasingly limited access to abortion-related health care over the past two years. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, at least 14 states have implemented near-total abortion bans.
In August, two Texas women filed federal complaints against hospitals that denied them abortions for ectopic pregnancies. In July, a Kansas woman sued the University of Kansas Health System after the medical center refused to give her an emergency abortion in 2022.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld a lower court's ruling that federal law overrides Idaho's near-total abortion ban in medical emergencies but litigation over the issue is expected to continue.
Other states have worked to enshrine the right to abortion access through state legislation or have passed shield laws to protect patients from other states who travel to get the procedure. Data from the Guttmacher Institute released earlier this year revealed that over 171,000 patients traveled out-of-state to receive abortion care in 2023.
Contributing: Mary Walrath-Holdridge, Sudiksha Kochi, and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; Reuters
Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. Reach Eleanor McCrary at emccrary@courier-journal.com.
veryGood! (767)
Related
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Linkin Park setlist: All songs in the From Zero World Tour kickoff with Emily Armstrong
- North Carolina’s public universities cut 59 positions as part of a massive DEI overhaul this summer
- Get Ahead of Spooky Season: Here Are 15+ Easy Halloween Costumes You Can Buy Right Now
- Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
- First and 10: Texas is roaring into SEC, while Oklahoma is limping. What's up with Oregon?
- Travis Kelce Reacts to Taylor Swift’s Sweet 2024 MTV VMAs Shoutout
- Young women are more liberal than they’ve been in decades, a Gallup analysis finds
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- USPS’ long-awaited new mail truck makes its debut to rave reviews from carriers
Ranking
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Megan Thee Stallion recreates Britney Spears' iconic 2001 python moment at VMAs: Watch
- 2024 MTV VMAs: Katy Perry Makes Coy Reference to Orlando Bloom Sex Life While Accepting Vanguard Award
- Black rights activists convicted of conspiracy, not guilty of acting as Russian agents
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- DA who oversaw abandoned prosecution of Colorado man in wife’s death should be disbarred, panel says
- NFL schedule today: Everything to know about Bills vs. Dolphins on Thursday night
- Billionaire steps out of SpaceX capsule for first private spacewalk hundreds of miles above Earth
Recommendation
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
Election officials ask for more federal money but say voting is secure in their states
2025 Social Security COLA estimate dips with inflation but more seniors face poverty
Karen Read asks Massachusetts high court to dismiss two charges
Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
Jordan Chiles says 'heart was broken' by medals debacle at Paris Olympics
Most Americans don’t trust AI-powered election information: AP-NORC/USAFacts survey
The echoes of Colin Kaepernick ring loudly in Tyreek Hill police detainment