Editor’s Note: In a story published March 16, an abortion procedure was incorrectly listed as an “ectopic rejection.” Inquiries with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Department of Public Health confirmed data provided by the state was incorrect; the procedure was an “ectopic resection” and the following report has been updated to reflect the correction.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – In January 2023, two lives were lost to abortion in Kentucky.
Kentucky entered 2023 with a trigger abortion ban blocking access to elective pregnancy termination. The law, which went into effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, but was quickly blocked by a district court judge, was enforced following a state appeals court ruling on August 1, 2022.
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.
Both women who obtained abortions in January were unmarried residents of Kentucky, one of whom was Hispanic and one not Hispanic.
A “medical-non-surgical” termination procedure was performed on a 15-week-old fetus, and a laparoscopic ectopic resection was performed on a 6-week-old embryo.
Unlike previous records released to Kentucky Today, the Cabinet did not provide the following data: age, race or Hispanic origin of the pregnant women, the facility where the abortions were performed, previous live births or other terminations. Those data points have not been issued by the Cabinet since July 2022.
All data related to abortions provided in Kentucky are made available to the public through the Open Records Act.
Friends of Life KY 