A state court order restoring access to abortion in Kentucky after the US Supreme Court’s abortion ruling remains in force after the state supreme court declined to lift it.
Chief Judge Mitch Perry of the Kentucky Circuit Court, Jefferson County, June 30 temporarily blocked the state’s enforcement of two laws—a ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy and a near-total “trigger” ban—while a suit proceeds on whether the Kentucky Constitution provides greater protection for abortion rights than the federal constitution.
The Kentucky Supreme Court denied an emergency motion by Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) to halt Perry’s order, in a short order signed by Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. Tuesday.
The trigger ban was designed to take effect if the US Supreme Court ever overturned the federal constitutional right to abortion, which it did June 24 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The Kentucky case is just one of several filed in the wake of that decision, arguing that various state constitutional provisions protect abortion access.
The Kentucky Supreme Court expressed “no opinion” on the substantive issue.
Perry set hearing on the providers’ preliminary injunction motion for Wednesday.
Craig Henry PLC, ACLU of Kentucky, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America represent the providers. The state attorney general’s office represents Kentucky.
Planned Parenthood receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Bloomberg Law owner Michael Bloomberg.
—With assistance from Alex Ebert
The case is Cameron v. Acree, Ky., No. 2022-SC-0266-OA, 7/5/22.
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