Kentucky’s Abortion Emergency Transfer Law Valid, 16 States Say

Sixteen states are supporting Kentucky’s efforts to revive a law requiring abortion clinics to have emergency care agreements with hospitals and ambulance companies.

Led by Indiana and Ohio, the states Feb. 6 filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to overturn a lower court decision barring Kentucky from enforcing the 1998 transfer agreement law.

The law’s enforcement would have forced the only clinic in the state that performs surgical abortions to close, according to EMW Women’s Surgical Center PSC, which brought the suit. The trial court found the law provides “scant medical benefits” ...