Update:
- A class action lawsuit filed against Kentucky over its abortion bans has been dropped by Planned Parenthood after the female plaintiff in the lawsuit lost her pregnancy, and thus lost her standing to bring the complaint.
- The woman had argued that Kentucky’s six-week ban and total ban on abortions were a violation of a woman’s right to privacy and self determination under the state constitution.
- The woman’s role in the complaint came to an end, however, after a recent ultrasound showed the embryo she was carrying had no cardiac activity.
- Kentucky enacted its near-total ban on abortion following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June of last year.
Kentucky abortion class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky Inc. and a Jane Doe filed a class action lawsuit against Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and other government officials.
- Why: Doe argues a pair of abortion bans in Kentucky violate womens’ right to privacy and self determination under the state constitution.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in the Jefferson Circuit Court of Kentucky.
(Dec. 18, 2023)
A pair of abortion bans in the state of Kentucky are a violation of womens’ rights to privacy and self determination under the state constitution, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
A Kentucky resident who is approximately eight weeks pregnant is challenging two abortion bans in the state: a total ban, barring “very narrow” emergency circumstances, and a six-week ban — after embryonic cardiac activity generally becomes detectable.
The woman, who is proceeding under the pseudonym Jane Doe, claims she and other pregnant women wanting abortions in the state of Kentucky are “suffering medical, constitutional, and irreparable harm” by not being legally able to obtain one.
“The inability to access abortion in the Commonwealth forcibly imposes the health risks and physical burdens of continued pregnancy on all Kentuckians who would otherwise choose to access safe and legal abortion,” the class action states.
Doe wants to represent a Kentucky class consisting of herself and all others who are now or later become pregnant and seek an abortion in the state but cannot obtain one on account of the challenged abortion bans.
Abortion bans prevent Planned Parenthood branch from performing procedure, class action says
Doe is joined as a plaintiff in the class action lawsuit by Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky Inc., which provided abortions to Kentucky residents in its Louisville health center before the Supreme Court decision to overturn a federally protected right to abortion.
Doe argues the abortion bans have forced the Planned Parenthood branch to stop providing the service, with the now inability to access abortion services in Kentucky imposing health risks and physical burdens on those who would otherwise choose to get one.
“For many individuals, the Bans altogether foreclose the ability to access abortion, thus forcing them to carry their pregnancies to term and give birth, which carries a risk of death up to fourteen times higher than that associated with abortion,” the class action states.
Doe is requesting the court declare that both the total ban and six-week abortion ban are unconstitutional and unenforceable.
The class action lawsuit comes the same month a pregnant Texas woman, Kate Cox, alongside her husband and physician filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas in an attempt to obtain an abortion she argues is needed to protect her future fertility.
Do you think Kentucky’s abortion bans violate the state constitution? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Michele Henry of Craig Henry PLC, Crystal Fryman of the ACLU of Kentucky, Brigitte Amiri and Chelsea Tejada of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Leah Godesky of O’Melveny & Myers LLP and Anjali Salvador and Valentina De Fex of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
The Kentucky abortion class action lawsuit is Doe, et al. v. Daniel Cameron, et al., Case No. 23-CI-00756, in Jefferson Circuit Court of Kentucky.
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