LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – When the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion on June 24, 2022, it triggered a chain reaction in Kentucky that is still reverberating throughout the Bluegrass State.
Fewer abortions amid legal battles
One year after Roe, Kentucky’s abortion rate has flatlined as the state’s abortion ban outlawing elective pregnancy termination stands, currently unchallenged, as the law of the commonwealth.
On June 20, 2023, EMW Women’s Surgical Center and Planned Parenthood in Louisville — Kentucky’s two abortion providers — withdrew their challenge to the ban. But that concession followed 12 tumultuous months of legal battles that ended at the state’s highest court.
The ban, passed by the General Assembly in 2019, was triggered upon Roe’s reversal; the clinics immediately sued to block it. Several court rulings and a set of temporary injunctions preserved abortion access until a state appeal’s court allowed to ban to be enforced on August 1, 2022. The case was transferred to the Kentucky Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court’s ruling on February 15, 2023, and sent the parties back to a circuit court to argue over the constitutional merits of the law.
But that argument will not happen until the clinics find a patient plaintiff to establish standing — a critical component the state’s highest court said EMW and Planned Parenthood lack.
Meanwhile, abortions rapidly declined.
In the year leading up to the overturn of Roe, between June 2021 and May 2022, 4,539 abortions were performed in Kentucky.
After Roe, between June 2022 and April 2023, 594 abortions were provided to patients. Only 10 of those happened after the ban was enforced, each deemed medically necessary to preserve the life and health of the mother. Abortions performed outside those provisions are now Class D felonies; however, a woman who obtains an abortion would not be liable to any criminal prosecution or penalty.
Pro-life and pro-abortion activism continues in the aftermath
Kentuckians on both sides of the abortion debate are still active — opposing or affirming abortion restrictions, supporting women facing unplanned pregnancies or assisting them over state lines to end their pregnancies, making their voices heard on abortion policies and learning how to function within the state’s new normal.
Activism in the past year, and ongoing work, includes:
–The failure of Constitutional Amendment #2, which would have added a section to the Kentucky constitution stating: “To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.” Voters rejected the ballot measure by a margin of 4.8 percentage points on November 8, 2022 after a flurry of tv ads and grassroots campaign efforts. However, the blow to pro-life efforts was not enough to convince the Ky. Supreme Court that Kentuckians stand behind a constitutional right to abortion–and a lower court will not take up the issue because EMW and Planned Parenthood withdrew their legal challenge earlier this month.
–The ministry of pro-life pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) continues. Approximately 50 centers statewide are still providing ultrasounds, STI/STD testing, material help, pregnancy testing, parenting classes, maternity housing and life skills training free of charge to women facing unplanned pregnancies. One PRC director who spoke with Kentucky Today shortly after the fall of Roe said the state of abortion access doesn’t change the work they do or the services they provide: “We still do what we’ve always done and that is give love and information in a non-judgmental environment and provide excellent services and support so that moms and dads don’t feel like they are walking their journey alone.”
–Abortion funds — like “A Fund” and the “Kentucky Reproductive Freedom Fund” — alongside their staff and volunteer networks are still assisting women seeking abortions out of state. Support includes financial assistance for travel and abortion procedures, transportation and interpretation services.
–The building housing EMW was put on the market on May 26, 2023. Though it is no longer providing abortions in Louisville, the clinic has affirmed its commitment to keep fighting for abortion access. “EMW remains open and the business is not for sale,” the clinic said in a Facebook post on May 31.
–Though Kentucky’s abortion providers have withdrawn their challenge to the state’s abortion ban, future legal battles are possible. “We will be back in court when we have a patient plaintiff,” said Tamara Wieder, the state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, in a statement in June.
Friends of Life KY 