Kentucky abortion law temporarily blocked, allowing services to resume

A federal judge on Thursday issued a temporary order blocking a Kentucky abortion law that advocates had said made the service difficult to obtain in the state. 

The two Louisville clinics – the only two remaining in Kentucky – had gone to court immediately after the law took effect, asking that the measure be put on hold while the case is litigated. 

Abortion-rights supporters chant their objections at the Kentucky Capitol on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, in Frankfort, Ky., as Kentucky lawmakers debate overriding the governor’s veto of an abortion measure. 
(AP Photo/Bruce Schreiner, File)

Thursday’s decision was a victory for abortion rights advocates and a setback for the Republican-led legislature, which passed the law in March and then overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of the measure last week.

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The measure bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy and requires women to be examined by a doctor before receiving abortion pills. It also contains new reporting requirements that the Kentucky clinics said they couldn’t immediately comply with. Noncompliance can result in stiff fines and felony penalties.

Kentucky is among the GOP-led states that have passed restrictive abortion laws in anticipation of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that could reverse the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that established a right to abortion nationwide nearly 50 years ago.

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Pending before the high court is a challenge to a law passed in a fifth state, Mississippi, that bans abortion after 15 weeks. The court has indicated that it will allow Mississippi’s ban to stand and conservative justices have suggested they support overruling Roe.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.