LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – There were no abortions reported to Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services in September; two lives were lost to abortion in October.
Both October abortions were performed surgically—one via suction curettage and one via dilation and evacuation (D&E). One fetus was at 9 weeks’ gestation at the time of the abortion; the other was at 16 weeks’ gestation.
The drop-off in abortion incidence follows an August 1 order by a state appeals court to reinstate the commonwealth’s “trigger” law, which banned elective abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade at the end of June this year. Under the ban, abortions are permitted to protect the life and health of the mother. The exception allows physicians to perform an abortion if he or she decides, within “reasonable medical judgment,” that the abortion is necessary to prevent death, a substantial risk of death or serious damage to a life-sustaining organ of the pregnant woman.
The Kentucky Supreme Court is now considering a legal challenge brought by the state’s two abortion providers: EMW Women’s Surgical Center and Planned Parenthood, both in Louisville. A ruling from the high court could either reinstate an injunction against the trigger law or allow it to remain in effect while litigation continues and is expected at any time.
Other Kentucky abortion laws recently passed or implemented include a 15-week abortion ban and a heartbeat law. EMW and Planned Parenthood’s case against the trigger law also challenges the heartbeat statute.
All data related to abortions provided in Kentucky are made available to the public through the Open Records Act.
Friends of Life KY 