Are Abortions Legal in Kentucky

The new laws would prohibit abortions based on the sex, race or disability of the fetus, as well as abortions performed after the detection of a fetal heartbeat (about 6 weeks, often before the mother knows she is pregnant), unless deemed necessary to protect the life or health of the mother. Kentucky also enacted an « induction ban » that bans virtually all abortions to go into effect after the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade. The ACLU and its partners plan to file a case in state court, arguing that the Kentucky Constitution allows the legal right to abortion. Kentucky had abortion laws around 1900, including those with therapeutic exceptions. These laws are designed to protect women from those who perform unsafe abortions. In 1998, the state passed a law requiring clinics to have an abortion clinic license if they wanted to operate. In the early 2010s, members of the Kentucky legislature attempted to ban abortion in almost all cases and had also introduced bans on early abortion. Prior to 2019, Kentucky law prohibited abortions after week 22. That changed when the state legislature passed a bill earlier this year that postponed the ban to week 6.

This year, 57 percent of Kentuckyns said abortion « should be illegal in all or most cases. » A law passed and signed into law in April 2022 lowered the threshold to 15 weeks, the second most restrictive limit in place in the United States after Texas, and introduced regulations that made abortion illegal until it was blocked by a federal court. Effective according to Dobbs v. Jackson Women`s Health Organization Repeal of Roe v. Wade, Kentucky`s triggering law went into effect, which prohibits abortion unless it is necessary to prevent possible death or the risk of permanent injury to the pregnant woman. On June 30, 2022, Jefferson County District Judge Mitch Perry issued a preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of the abortion ban in the state pending further hearings to determine whether the ban violates the Kentucky Constitution. This order temporarily allowed Kentucky`s two electoral abortion providers, both located in Louisville, to temporarily resume elective abortions. [2] Kentucky`s triggering law, which prohibits abortions, was temporarily reinstated by the Kentucky Court of Appeals on August 1, 2022. [3] [4] Prior to 2019, Kentucky law prohibited abortions after the 22nd week. That changed when the state legislature passed a bill earlier this year that postponed the ban to week 6. [24] Two bills to ban abortions after fetal heartbeat was detected were introduced in the Kentucky General Assembly in 2019. [31] State Senator Matt Castlen introduced SB 9 on January 8, 2019. [32] On February 14, 2019, SB 9 was passed by the Kentucky Senate by a vote of 31 to 6.

[33] The bill was received in the House of Representatives on February 15, 2019. [34] Republican Senate President Damon Thayer said SB 9 was « absolutely » a priority for the House. He said he would be happy if it became law and ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. « It would be the highlight of my career, » he said. [35] On March 14, 2019, the Kentucky House of Representatives passed SB 9 by a vote of 71 to 19. [36] The next day, the ACLU`s state section filed an application for an injunction preventing the implementation of the ban. In EMW Women`s Surgical Center v. Meier, the 6-week ban was suspended by U.S. District Judge David Hale.

[37] In Louisiana, another state where the court challenged the trigger ban, a state judge on Thursday blocked the enforcement of its abortion ban. On Friday, state officials asked the same judge to suspend his own sentence by appealing. Judge Donald Johnson`s injunction meant clinics in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans could offer abortions as the trial continued. At the 1982 Kentucky General Assembly, Democrat William I. Donnermeyer Sr. Introduction of a bill that provides for several restrictions and conditions for abortion; In other words, parental consent was required before an abortion could be performed on a minor, husbands must be informed when their wives have had an abortion, a woman who requests an abortion must wait 24 hours before undergoing the procedure and must receive information about the development of the fetus and alternatives to abortion, and doctors need to document the reasons why a woman is seeking an abortion. [19] Despite a statement by then Attorney General Steve Beshear that the law was not constitutional, it was enacted by lawmakers. [19] The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the law in June 1982, preventing it from coming into force on July 15 of that year. [19] In September 1984, U.S. District Judge Charles M.

Allen removed most of the provisions of the act. [19] The 1986 General Assembly again passed a law requiring parental consent for minors seeking abortions. [20] The law required the consent of the custodial parent only if the parents did not live together, and also allowed the minor to seek permission from a district or district court. [21] Allen J. upheld this law in a 1988 decision. [21] Created by FindLaw`s team of legal writers and editors-in-chief | Last updated July 14, 2022 • In 2017, approximately 862,320 abortions took place in the United States. The resulting abortion rate of 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15-44 years) represents an 8% decrease from the rate of 14.6 in 2014. [1] You shouldn`t need a law degree to read and understand the laws that affect you, although many of these laws are written in dense « jurist`s German. » The table below explains in plain language the key provisions of Kentucky`s abortion laws, including changes pending under the 2019 legislative amendments. Kentucky`s law is currently partially blocked after Planned Parenthood and the ACLU challenged it in federal court.

The providers temporarily stopped abortions for more than a week because they said they could not comply with new regulations not yet established by the Health and Family Services Cabinet. But Thompson struck perry off on the grounds that it was unfair to allow abortions — even temporarily — because the procedures would be irreversible if state courts later declared abortion restrictions constitutional. « However, the court stresses that it does not express any opinion on the merits of the underlying dispute, » he added. Women who have abortions in violation of the 2019 laws (which are still subject to judicial review) will not be punished under criminal or civil law. However, any health care provider who knowingly performs an abortion in violation of the law can have their medical license revoked and charged with a Class D crime. Kentucky`s near-total abortion ban went into effect immediately after the court`s decision, and both clinics in the state stopped offering abortions on Monday. In March, the Republican-led legislature passed House Bill 3, which makes it harder for minors to get abortions, restricts abortion drugs and bans abortion after 15 weeks — using language almost identical to the Mississippi law at stake in Dobbs. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. 1973 The Wade decision meant that the state could no longer regulate abortion during the first trimester. [15] The EMW Women`s Surgical Center sued the state of Kentucky in 1998 for requiring it to have a license to operate an abortion clinic.

They lost their case in court. [22] In 2019, the courts issued an injunction to prevent the recently passed 6-week abortion ban from taking effect. [24] Similarly, a federal court temporarily blocked House Bill 3 a week after it passed after pro-abortion advocates were prosecuted. [45] [46] The Supreme Court elevated Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women`s Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022) later in 2022.

[47] [48] On June 30, 2022, Jefferson County District Judge Mitch Perry issued an injunction blocking the enforcement of the state`s abortion ban pending further hearings to determine whether the ban violated the Kentucky Constitution. This order temporarily allows Kentucky`s two electoral abortion providers, both located in Louisville, to temporarily resume elective abortions. [2] The Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Kentucky Supreme Court dismissed an application to dissolve the injunction. [3] [4] The Kentucky ACLU said in a statement that its client, the EMW Women`s Surgical Center, « stopped providing care while our legal team analyzes the court`s opinion and its connection to federal and Kentucky laws. » .