A Kentucky judge has issued an injunction effectively allowing the voluntary termination of a pregnancy pending a ruling in the appeal process against the federal authorities’ decision to ban abortion. The ruling states that there is a “high probability” that the new abortion law violates the right to privacy and self-determination protected by the Constitution.
It all began on June 30 when Judge Mitch Perry granted a request by two clinics in Louisville, the Emu Surgical Center for Women and Planned Parenthood, that asked to be allowed to continue with abortions and temporarily suspended the ban.
Today’s injunction extends the period of time during which an abortion can be continued, at least until the outcome of the operation is known. Kentucky enacted a ban on abortion as soon as the Supreme Court’s decision was announced to repeal the protection of this right in the United States. It was one of the nine states that already had an abortion ban at the time of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which went into effect on June 24.
On June 27, another Louisiana judge suspended the state’s abortion ban and the next day a Texas judge did the same.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican running for governor, said he was very disappointed with the ruling and has already announced he will appeal to the state appeals court.
Democratic Governor Andy Bashir accused the anti-abortion law of being “extremist”, stressing that there are no exceptions even in the case of rape or incest.
After the Supreme Court decision, about half of US states are expected to enforce a pregnancy termination ban.
A doctor at an abortion clinic in Kentucky who was heard by Judge Perry said that, according to statistics, pregnancy can be more dangerous to a mother’s health than an abortion.
In the ruling, the judge stated that the ban on activation is a “controversial unconstitutional delegation of authority”, as it relies on another “court” which is the Supreme Court of the United States.
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