Federal Judge Cancels Kentucky Law to Limit Abortions in Second Quarter

A federal judge on Friday overturned a Kentucky law that effectively ended abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

US District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. ruled that the 2018 law, which required women wishing to abort at 15 or more weeks of pregnancy, to undergo a "fetal injection" beforehand, was "unconstitutional". He also issued a permanent injunction against the law.

"The court finds that" under the law, all women wishing to have a second trimester abortion after 15 weeks should undergo an invasive and not medically necessary procedure that could increase the duration of the procedure. " a standard D & E abortion for one day, "McKinley wrote. .

D & E abortion is the standard method of second-trimester abortion at the national level.

Dylan Lovan / AP, FILE

The law had been signed by Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, whose office had immediately told the Associated Press that he would appeal McKinley's decision. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

The injection, which would kill the fetus, would not evacuate the fetus from the woman's body, so that an abortion would still be necessary. The law was challenged by the state's only abortion clinic and by the two doctors – Ashlee Bergin and Tanya Franklin – who practice there on the day of its signing.

In addition, Bergin and Franklin stated that they "would cease to perform standard D & E abortions because of ethical and legal concerns about compliance with the law, thus making abortions unavailable in the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 15 weeks from the date of the last menstrual period, "according to the decision.

"The legitimate interests of the Commonwealth do not permit the imposition of an additional medical procedure required – an invasive and risky procedure without medical necessity or benefit to the woman – prior to the standard abortion by D & E. The legitimate interests of Kentucky must give way to the right of women "McKinley wrote.

Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union who represented the abortion clinic and her doctors, paid tribute to the judge's decision.

"It's a huge win for Kentucky women and families," Kolbi-Molinas told ABC News. "Not only can women get the care they need, because they would have ended the abortion at 15 weeks, but [it said] that women wishing to have an abortion after 15 weeks should have undergone unnecessary, painful and, in some cases, experimental medical procedures only to have an abortion. "

Despite an increasing number of laws limiting abortion in many US states, Kolbi-Molinas said she was confident that McKinley's decision would not be overturned.

"The only court of appeal to have dealt with one of these problems [fetal demise injection] So far, some cases have found it unconstitutional and we are confident that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal would do the same, "she said.

In practice, the law had been blocked by a consent decree. As a result, nothing has changed for women who wish to have an abortion in Kentucky over the past year.

"There is no change, abortion remains safe and legal in Kentucky," said Kolbi-Molinas.