On May 30, attorneys representing a woman who sued Kentucky for abortion access dropped the lawsuit.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- A woman who sued the state of Kentucky last November over its law protecting most preborn children from abortion has dropped her lawsuit.
- The ACLU, representing the woman, offered no reason for the decision.
- Most preborn children remain protected from intentional killing by induced abortion in the state.
THE DETAILS:
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit in November 2024 on behalf of “Mary Poe,” the pseudonym of a woman who sought an abortion. The lawsuit challenged Kentucky’s trigger pro-life law and six-week protection law, the former of which took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 and outlaws abortion except in cases when the mother’s life or serious injury is at risk.
Poe was seven weeks pregnant when she sought to abort her child, but because of Kentucky’s pro-life protections, she could not undergo an abortion in the state. She sought legal assistance, claiming abortion is her reproductive right.
“I feel overwhelmed and frustrated that I cannot access abortion care here in my own state, and I have started the difficult process of arranging to get care in another state where it’s legal,” Poe said when she filed suit. “This is my personal decision, a decision I believe should be mine alone, not one made by anyone else. I am bringing this case 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.”
As Live Action News reported, after Poe filed her lawsuit, she traveled out of state to abort her preborn child.
In its motion to dismiss the case, the ACLU gave no reasoning for the request.
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COMMENTARY:
Executive Director of the ACLU of Kentucky, Amber Duke, said healthcare decisions are private; the ACLU would not offer more details other than her statement. “People have the right to control their own bodies without government interference, and we will never stop fighting to restore abortion access in Kentucky,” Duke said.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman praised the lawsuit’s dismissal. “Kentuckians can be proud that our pro-life values won the day today and innocent lives will continue to be saved as a result,” he said in a post on X. “I’m grateful to our dedicated team who continues to uphold the law as passed by our General Assembly.”
