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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A Kentucky judge Friday granted an injunction blocking the state’s abortion ban from taking effect.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry’s ruling says there is “a substantial likelihood” that Kentucky’s new abortion law violates “the rights to privacy and self-determination” protected by Kentucky’s constitution, The Associated Press reports.
The Louisville
ruling allows the state’s only two clinics to continue providing abortions
while the case is heard.
Anti-Abortion Trigger Laws
Kentucky along
with 12 other states had passed so-called trigger laws meant to ban abortions
as soon as the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade precedent which gave women
unprecedented access to abortion. The ruling by the Supreme Court allows states
to effectively ban the procedure. In June Perry issued a restraining order
blocking the ban
The Associated
Press reported that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said he was
disappointed by the ruling and will appeal it to the state appeals court.
Cameron is a Republican who is running for the office of governor in the state.
“The judge’s
suggestion that Kentucky’s constitution contains a right to abortion is not
grounded in the text and history of our state’s governing document,” Cameron
said in a prepared statement. “We will continue our steadfast defense of these
bipartisan laws that represent the Commonwealth’s commitment to the lives of
the unborn.”
Kentucky’s
trigger law allows a physician to perform an abortion if necessary to prevent
the death or permanent injury of the pregnant woman.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has dismissed the law as “extremist,” noting it lacks exceptions for rape and incest, according to The Associated Press.
Thirteen
states created trigger bans – Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and
South Dakota bans are in effect but
Kentucky, Louisiana, and Utah are not in effect because of litigation,
according to The Associated Press. While Idaho, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas
and Wyoming are not yet due to take effect.