Federal Judge Rules to Protect Abortion Access in Kentucky

Ruling Keeps the Doors Open of Last Abortion Clinic in Kentucky; Paves the Way for Planned Parenthood to Expand Access. 老澳门开奖结果 and Planned Parenthood Lawsuit Succeeds

September 28, 2018 9:45 am

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. 鈥 Today, following a three-day trial in September 2017, during which experts and abortion providers testified to the devastating impact of shutting down Kentucky鈥檚 last abortion clinic, a federal district court struck down a Kentucky law that would have effectively banned abortion in the Commonwealth. This decision keeps open the doors of the only health center in Kentucky that provides safe and legal abortion care, EMW Women鈥檚 Surgical Center. The decision also paves the way for Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK) to expand access to safe, legal abortion in Kentucky.

In March 2017, Kentucky threatened to revoke the license of EMW Women鈥檚 Surgical Center, alleging that the clinic鈥檚 agreements with a hospital and an ambulance service contained technical deficiencies despite having approved the same agreements in 2016. Furthermore, the state has flat out denied Planned Parenthood an abortion license because of its purported failure to comply with this medically unnecessary transfer agreement statute.

鈥淭he Court has carefully reviewed the evidence presented in this case and concludes that the record is devoid of any credible proof that the challenged regulations have any tangible benefit to women鈥檚 health,鈥 the decision reads.

In 2016, in Whole Woman鈥檚 Health v. Hellerstedt, the Supreme Court struck down a similar law in Texas 鈥 yet Kentucky politicians ignored the precedent-setting Texas case, and tried to use Kentucky鈥檚 medically unnecessary law to shut down the last clinic in the state and prevent Planned Parenthood from providing needed care. This case has gained even greater significance given that an impending change in the Supreme Court has raised serious questions about the future of legal abortion in the U.S.

"The court鈥檚 decision recognized the Kentucky law for what it is: an attack on women wrapped up in a bogus justification and pushed by politicians who鈥檝e been transparent in their pursuit to ban abortion in the state of Kentucky,鈥 said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Reproductive Freedom Project. 鈥淲hile today we celebrate a victory for women鈥檚 health, the fight continues at the state and federal level against the unprecedented attacks on women鈥檚 access to abortion.鈥

鈥淭his decision will come as a relief to women across Kentucky faced with the prospect of traveling hundreds of miles out-of-state for abortion care鈥攐r being blocked from care altogether,鈥 said Don Cox, an attorney at Lynch, Cox, Gilman & Goodman P.S.C. 鈥淏ut Governor Bevin will undoubtedly continue his relentless anti-abortion agenda, and we will remain vigilant and fight those efforts.鈥

鈥淧PINK praises today鈥檚 decision and looks forward to expanding abortion access soon. This is a victory for the many patients we see every day. For them, safe, legal abortion isn鈥檛 a matter of ideology or politics. It is necessary health care that allows them to live their fullest lives,鈥 said Christie Gillespie, President and CEO of PPINK.

鈥淚n 37 years providing abortion, I鈥檝e seen every over clinic close down in our state, and now ours is the last clinic standing in the entire state. The patients that walk through our doors have already dealt with so many obstacles鈥擨鈥檓 glad that despite those challenges, they will still find our doors open to them thanks to this victory,鈥 said Dr. Ernest Marshall, EMW Women鈥檚 Surgical Center.

More on this case can be found here: /cases/emw-v-glisson


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