Judge allows 15-week abortion ban to go into effect in Kentucky

A Kentucky law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy may now be enforced while a legal challenge continues to a state law banning all abortions in the state.

For now, abortions remain legal in Kentucky for patients with pregnancies under 15 weeks, under a different court ruling.

On Thursday U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings lifted her injunction against a part of House Bill 3, the "omnibus" abortion bill the legislature enacted this year, that bans abortions after 15 weeks.

Jennings found there was no reason to block enforcement of that provision of the law following the Supreme Court's June 24 decision to strike down Roe v. Wade, its 1973 decision that established abortion as a constitutional right. That ruling returned power to states to regulate abortion, and in Kentucky, a "trigger" law automatically eliminated access to almost all abortions upon the Supreme Court ruling.

HB 3 had been challenged in federal court as unconstitutional by the state's two abortion providers, Planned Parenthood and EMW Women's Surgical Center, prior to the Supreme Court ruling.

However, a legal challenge in state court has temporarily blocked enforcement of the 2019 trigger law as well as another barring abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

The rulings come amid a flurry of legal activity surrounding Kentucky's multiple restrictions on abortion enacted by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

Jennings' order has little immediate impact in Kentucky on the two abortions providers, both in Louisville.

Planned Parenthood provides abortions only through 14 weeks of pregnancy, and EMW had suspended providing abortions beyond 15 weeks as a precaution following the Supreme Court ruling, while legal challenges are pending.

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Neither EMW nor Planned Parenthood objected to allowing enforcement of the 15-week ban, Jennings' order said.

A previous Kentucky law bans abortions after 22 weeks.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, has been defending the state's abortion laws and had asked Jennings to lift all restrictions and allow enforcement of HB 3.

Jennings did allow an injunction to remain in place against other parts of the far-reaching HB 3, including heavy regulation of medication to induce abortions, new restrictions for girls under 18 seeking abortions and extensive new reporting requirements for physicians who provide abortions services.

Lawyers for Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, which represents EMW, said the additional requirements of HB 3 are so complex and far-reaching that state officials and health providers haven't had sufficient time to develop new forms and procedures required under the law.

Jennings said she will reserve ruling on whether to allow the rest of HB 3 to be enforced until the lawyers for all sides can provide more information.

Meanwhile, Kentucky's trigger law and the six-week ban remain suspended under order of a state judge. The trigger law bans all abortions other than those necessary to save the life or prevent disabling injury to the mother, and the six-week law bans abortions once embryonic cardiac activity is detected, generally around six weeks of pregnancy.

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Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry temporarily blocked enforcement of the two laws after EMW and Planned Parenthood filed a challenge in state court, arguing that the Kentucky Constitution provides a right to abortion as a matter of privacy.

The claim is part of a broader strategy by abortion rights groups who have filed such claims in about a dozen states, seeking to block laws that ban or sharply restrict abortions.

Perry held a hearing on the challenge to Kentucky's laws on July 7 and gave parties until July 18 to file final pleadings summarizing their position on whether he should grant an injunction to extend the ban on enforcing the laws while the challenge proceeds.

He has said he plans to rule "as soon as possible."

Reach Deborah Yetter at dyetter@courier-journal.com. Find her on Twitter at @d_yetter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Abortions now banned at 15 weeks in Kentucky