A Kentucky judge has issued an injunction that effectively allows for voluntary termination of pregnancy pending a ruling in the appeals process against the federal authorities’ decision to ban abortion. The ruling states that there is “a substantial likelihood” that the new abortion law violates the rights to privacy and self-determination protected by the constitution.
It all started on June 30 when Judge Mitch Perry accepted the request made by two Louisville clinics, the Emw Women’s Surgical Center and Planned Parenthood, who had asked to be allowed to continue abortions and had temporarily suspended the ban.
America rises up against the ban on abortion
Francesco Semprini
Today’s injunction extends the window of time in which abortions can continue to be practiced at least until the outcome of the process is known. Kentucky enacted an abortion ban as soon as the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal the protection of this right in the United States was made public. It was one of the nine states that already had an abortion ban in place at the time the Supreme Court ruling was pronounced, which then came into effect on June 24.
On June 27, another Louisiana judge suspended the state’s abortion ban and the next day a Texas judge did the same.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican running for governor, said he was very disappointed with the ruling and has already announced that he will appeal to the state appeals court.
Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, accused the anti-abortion law as “extremist”, stressing that there are no exceptions even in the case of rape or incest.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, about half of US states are expected to enforce the ban on termination of pregnancy.
A doctor at one of the abortion clinics in Kentucky heard by Judge Perry said that according to statistics, a pregnancy can be even more dangerous to a mother’s health than an abortion.
In the ruling, the judge stated that the ban on activation is “a disputedly unconstitutional delegation of authority”, as it depended on another “court” namely the Supreme Court of the United States.