OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The Kentucky Supreme Court has thumbed its nose at the United States Supreme Court in denying an appeal by the state’s attorney general to reinstate its near-total abortion ban.
When the United States Supreme Court ended Roe V Wad, state laws in many conservative states known as trigger laws were immediately placed into effect.
One such law was in Kentucky, known as the Human Life Protection Act, which bans abortions other than those that would be performed to save the mother’s life or prevent her serious injury, Fox News reported.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of abortion providers in Kentucky last week, arguing that it is unconstitutional to have women “remain pregnant against their will.”
Last week, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Mitch Perry issued a temporary restraining order against that law and another that blocks abortions after six weeks.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals denied an appeal from the state’s Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s to stay the decision and on Sunday the state’s Supreme Court denied the request.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to continue delaying enforcement of Kentucky’s Human Life Protection Act and Heartbeat Law is disappointing,” the attorney general said Tuesday.
“We’ve now asked all three levels of Kentucky’s judiciary to allow these laws to take effect. Not a single judge at any level has suggested these laws are unconstitutional, yet we are unfortunately still prohibited from enforcing them,” he said.
“We will not be deterred in defending these important laws, and our team will make a strong case tomorrow in Jefferson Circuit Court to have the laws reinstated,” he said.
We will not be deterred in defending these important laws, and our team will make a strong case tomorrow in Jefferson Circuit Court to have the laws reinstated. (3/3)
— Attorney General Daniel Cameron (@kyoag) July 6, 2022
Kentucky is the third state to have its abortion trigger law temporarily blocked. Pro-choice activists have filed a slew of lawsuits seeking to stop, or more often delay, enforcement of the bans.
Judges in both Texas and Louisiana have blocked trigger laws and will hold hearings in July to decide on the lawsuits.
In addition to Texas and Louisiana, 10 states have abortion bans on the books that took effect after Roe fell.
Last week, the Texas Supreme Court nixed a lower court decision and allowed the state’s new abortion laws to take effect.
The court allowed the 1925 state ban on abortion to take effect in a ruling delivered late on Friday night, The New York Times reported.
The decision was the latest in a series of legal battles across the country following the Supreme Court ruling on June 24 that overturned Roe v. Wade, a half-century-old ruling that had established a nationwide constitutional right to an abortion.
In Texas, that meant a 1925 law written before Roe, which had banned abortions and punished those who performed them with possible imprisonment, automatically came into effect, said Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general. Though not enforced after the 1973 Supreme Court ruling on Roe, it had nevertheless remained on the books.
That ban was temporarily blocked by a Harris County judge after abortion clinics sued for a stay, arguing that it had effectively been repealed after the landmark Roe ruling.
“Pro-life victory! Thanks to my appeal, SCOTX has slapped down the abortion providers and the district court carrying their water. Our state’s pre-Roe statutes banning abortion in Texas are 100% good law. Litigation continues, but I’ll keep winning for Texas’s unborn babies,” the Texas attorney general said in a tweet on Saturday.
Pro-life victory! Thanks to my appeal, SCOTX has slapped down the abortion providers and the district court carrying their water. Our state’s pre-Roe statutes banning abortion in Texas are 100% good law. Litigation continues, but I’ll keep winning for Texas’s unborn babies. pic.twitter.com/xgQuDtEXQu
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) July 2, 2022
The state will continue to argue the case in the district court on July 12 against the American Civil Liberties Union and the lifting of the ban does not allow for criminal enforcement immediately.
“Extremist politicians are on a crusade to force Texans into pregnancy and childbirth against their will, no matter how devastating the consequences,” A.C.L.U. Reproductive Freedom Project attorney Julia Kaye said.
House Speaker and Democrat California Rep. Nancy Pelosi made a startling announcement to her caucus after the Supreme Court ended Roe V Wade.
She said that the House would “further codify freedoms which Americans currently enjoy,” the Washington Examiner reported.
“Following the release of the draft decision, our pro-choice House Democratic Majority has been hard at work preparing for the possibility of this tragic outcome. Our Caucus has been exploring avenues to protect the health and freedom of American women. Among them is legislation that:
“Protects women’s most intimate and personal data stored in reproductive health apps. Many fear that this information could be used against women by a sinister prosecutor in a state that criminalizes abortion,” she said.
“Makes clear that Americans have the Constitutional right to travel freely and voluntarily throughout the United States.
“Once again passes the Women’s Health Protection Act: landmark legislation to enshrine Roe v. Wade into the law of the land,” the Speaker said.
