No abortions reported by Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services in May

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – There were no abortions reported to Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services during May 2024.

In a message sent to Kentucky Today through the Open Records Center, a representative for the Cabinet noted there were no records to fulfill an open records request submitted on June 20: “After a diligent search, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services determined that it possesses no records responsive to your request. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services cannot furnish records that do not exist.”

Under Kentucky law, abortions must be reported to the Office of Vital Statistics within three days of the end of the month in which the abortion occurred. Abortion data provided by the Cabinet does not track or report self-managed abortions that happen in the commonwealth.

May is the 13th month without reported abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in June 2022, triggering Kentucky’s abortion ban, which has been enforced since August 2022. It is also the fifth straight month in 2024 without legal abortions provided in accordance with exceptions to the state’s abortion ban.

Abortions are permitted in Kentucky 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.

All data related to abortions provided in Kentucky are made available to the public through the Open Records Act.