LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – After two months free of legal abortions reported to the state, two pregnancy terminations were performed in Kentucky in November 2023.
Under Kentucky law, 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.
One November abortion occurred at 16-weeks gestation for an unmarried, non-Hispanic Kentucky resident — the 10th second-trimester pregnancy termination reported last year. Misoprostol, the second drug utilized in the standard two-step chemical abortion process, was listed as the procedure used. Misoprostol-only abortions are common outside of the U.S.
The second November abortion was performed on another unmarried, non-Hispanic Kentucky resident who was six weeks pregnant. A “laparoscopic salpingectomy” terminated the early pregnancy. That procedure removes one or both of a woman’s fallopian tubes and may be needed to treat an ectopic pregnancy or infection.
There were 15 abortions reported to Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services between January and November 2023.
All data related to abortions provided in Kentucky are made available to the public through the Open Records Act.
Friends of Life KY 