Pregnant Woman Involved in Legal Battle Against Kentucky's Abortion Bans Discovers Embryo Lacks Cardiac Activity, Lawyers Reveal
Pregnant woman in Kentucky abortion lawsuit discovers her embryo lacks cardiac activity, according to attorneys Lawsuit encompasses all pregnant individuals seeking abortion in the state
A Kentucky woman who is pregnant and part of a class action lawsuit challenging the state's two abortion bans has been informed by her attorneys that her embryo no longer has cardiac activity.
The woman, referred to as Jane Doe, is the main plaintiff in the lawsuit that was filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court last week. This lawsuit aims to challenge the state's trigger law and six-week abortion ban, with the goal of asserting that "the government has denied her access to the care she needs," according to a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union.
This is the first time a pregnant woman in Kentucky has filed a lawsuit of this nature, according to ACLU of Kentucky spokesperson Angela Cooper. Jane Doe's attorneys from the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project have not stated whether she will continue her legal battle after learning about the absence of cardiac activity in the embryo.
An ACLU spokesperson told CNN that Jane Doe attempted to get an abortion in the Commonwealth but was unable to due to Kentucky's abortion ban, which remains in place. The lawsuit, filed by Jane Doe and Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky, came one day after a Texas judge allowed Kate Cox, a pregnant woman at 20 weeks, to have an emergency abortion. However, the decision was reversed by the Texas Supreme Court on Monday, even as Cox was traveling out of state to proceed with the procedure.
Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from Dallas-Fort Worth, sued the state of Texas in order to get an abortion.
Kate Cox/Handout/AFP/Getty Images
A Texas judge ruled a pregnant woman who sued the state seeking an abortion can legally terminate her pregnancy
Cox's legal battle is thought to be one of the first instances in the country of an individual seeking a court-ordered abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, as reported by the New York Times. The case has become the focal point of the ongoing debate over Texas' medical exception to its controversial ban on abortions after six weeks, which is one of the strictest in the nation.
In Kentucky, the trigger law, enacted in 2019 and coming into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, criminalized most abortions at any stage of pregnancy, making them a felony offense. The law includes very limited exceptions, allowing abortions only when necessary to prevent severe injury or save a patient's life.
Both Kentucky and Texas have near-total bans on abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest, making them among the 13 states that ban or severely restrict abortion. A lawsuit filed by Jane Doe names Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and other state officials as defendants. A spokesperson from the office of Kentucky's Republican attorney general told CNN they are "reviewing the complaint."
"I take pride in being a Kentuckian and cherish the life and family I've created here. However, I am frustrated that as a pregnant woman who does not wish to continue the pregnancy, the government is intruding into my personal affairs and preventing me from obtaining an abortion," the woman expressed in a statement provided by the ACLU.
"This is my choice - not the government's or anyone else's," she emphasized. "I am pursuing legal action because I firmly believe that everyone should have the freedom to make their own decisions regarding their pregnancies. I hope that this lawsuit will reinstate access to abortion in Kentucky, not only for me but for the numerous individuals in the future who deserve the independence to determine what is best for themselves and their families."
Lawsuit covers all pregnant Kentuckians seeking abortion
The class action suit filed by Jane Doe seeks to represent all pregnant women in Kentucky who may seek an abortion, claiming that they are experiencing medical, constitutional, and irreparable harm due to being denied the ability to obtain an abortion, as stated in the court complaint.
Brigitte Amiri, the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project's deputy director, emphasized the importance of Jane Doe having the authority to make decisions about her body and to receive necessary health care in her community. She criticized Kentucky politicians for denying this fundamental right, stating that their abortion bans violate the Kentucky Constitution's promise of protecting everyone's right to privacy, including the right to access abortion. Amiri also highlighted the harm caused by these bans since they were implemented last year and expressed relief at the opportunity to restore abortion access in Kentucky through legal action.
Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, emphasized in a Friday news conference, "Access to reproductive health care has been denied for far too long."
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See where abortions are banned and legaland where its still in limbo
In 2022, the people of Kentucky expressed their agreement with us by voting against a constitutional amendment that aimed to explicitly exclude the right to an abortion from the state constitution," stated Gibron.
The ACLU and Planned Parenthood obtained a temporary injunction and restraining order in June 2022, arguing that the state's trigger law and six-week abortion ban violated the constitutional rights of pregnant individuals to "privacy, bodily autonomy, and self-determination," as stated in a previous news release by the ACLU.
The state Supreme Court dissolved the injunction in February, ruling that the circuit court had wrongly halted the enforcement of two state abortion laws. This year, health care providers and abortion activists have persistently filed legal challenges to prevent bans in multiple states from being enforced. With abortion banned in over a dozen states and restricted in many others, it has become significantly more common for people in the United States to travel across state lines for their abortion care.
