[ad_1]
A federal judge on Friday overturned a Kentucky abortion law, giving reproductive rights advocates a win after major setbacks this week in Georgia and Alabama.
On May 10, US District Judge Joseph McKinley declared that a law passed in 2018 in Kentucky, banning an abortion procedure called dilation and evacuation (D & E), was unconstitutional. McKinley wrote in his ruling that the law constituted a "substantial impediment" to access to abortion, in violation of the 14th Amendment and US law.
D & E is a common abortion method, generally used during the second trimester. It has been used in more than 15% of the 3,300 abortions performed in Kentucky in 2016. Prohibiting D & E, said McKinley, would impose an "undue burden" on pregnancies.
"If the law comes into force, standard abortions for D & E will no longer be practiced in the Commonwealth because of ethical and legal concerns about compliance with the law," the judge wrote.
In a statement, ACLU lawyer Alexa Kolbi-Molinas described the victory decision as saying that "health, not politics, will guide important medical decisions about pregnancy." Laws like that of Kentucky, "are part of a national strategy orchestrated by anti-abortion politicians to push abortion out of reach."
The decision dealt a heavy blow to Governor Matt Bevin (D), who pledged to fight the decision. In a statement, a spokesman for the governor said that Kentucky "will pursue the case until the Supreme Court, if necessary".
McKinley's decision comes at the end of a grim week for abortion rights advocates in the South.
On Tuesday, Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) enacted a law banning virtually total abortions that would bar a pregnancy from six weeks, a time when many people do not even know they're pregnant.
The so-called ban on "fetal heartbeats" recognizes an embryo as a "natural person" and prohibits abortion once a heart activity is detected in the fetus. Reproductive rights advocates have repeatedly declared the prohibition unconstitutional, as have justice organizations. At the same time, companies in the film sector are withdrawing their business from the state, which could seriously damage the economy of Georgia – the state is one of the main filming locations in the world.
Another animated fight against abortion also broke out this week in Alabama. On Thursday, the Alabama Senate postponed voting on what would likely be the country's strictest abortion law. Under the bill, abortion would be prohibited in all cases, excluding life-threatening or life-threatening circumstances. However, some lawmakers burst into anger when the amendments allowing exceptions for rape and incest were slaughtered. In the chaos that followed, the legislature postponed the vote until next week.
The attack on anti-abortion legislation reflects a broader national trend. Abortion rights advocates argue that opponents hope to take advantage of the new conservative majority in the Supreme Court after President Donald Trump's appointment of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. If an abortion law were to reach the court, reproductive rights advocates fear that the court will use it as an opportunity to turn around. Roe v. Wade.
However, the reproductive health experts warned the public to be cautious when discussing Georgia's ban, as well as similar legislation in states like Ohio, which has not yet entered into force. Georgian law is not expected to come into force until January 2020. At this stage, many legal problems will have arisen. Abortion providers say that patients are terrified by the cancellation of their appointments, but that at present, clinics remain open and provide their usual services.
Some abortion advocacy organizations, meanwhile, have announced plans to target all Republicans who would support the abortion ban in Georgia, focusing on them as early as 2020. mobilize activists and overthrow advocates of the ban, in a rare effort focused on lower level legislative races.
[ad_2]
Source link