Previous efforts to get the state’s highest court to rule on whether abortion is protected in the Kentucky Constitution have fallen short – leaving the issue unresolved and an opening for abortions rights advocates to challenge the legality of the state’s near-total bans.
A Kentucky woman who is pregnant and seeking an abortion — referred to as Mary Poe in court documents — has filed suit in Jefferson Circuit Court seeking to strike down two abortion bans under the constitutional rights to privacy and self-determination.
Poe is being represented by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Poe said in a statement that she’s filing suit to “ensure that other Kentuckians will not have to go through what I am going through, and instead will be able to get the health care they need in our community.”
Meanwhile, proponents of the bans are preparing for another fight to defend the state's abortion laws. David Walls, executive director of The Family Foundation, called the new suit "meritless."
"The ACLU’s suggestion that the Kentucky Constitution somehow secretly contains a hidden right to terminate the life and stop the beating heart of an unborn human being, despite Kentucky’s clear 150-year pro-life history, is absolutely absurd. The ACLU’s own complaint acknowledges that the Kentucky Constitution guarantees a right to life," he wrote.
Kentucky voters rejected a constitutional amendment in 2022 that would have explicitly stated that there is no right to abortion in the state constitution.
Several factors could make this case different from previous unsuccessful attempts to get a ruling from the courts. First, past cases were rejected on the grounds that plaintiffs lacked standing. Second, the makeup of the state Supreme Court is changing.
