A pregnant woman from Kentucky filed a lawsuit against several state officials on Friday, arguing that the state’s abortion ban restricts her ability to “control” her life and her “right” to abortion, according to court documents.
Kentucky’s abortion law went into effect following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022 and prohibits the practice except to save the life of the mother or to prevent disabling injury, according to the Associated Press. The woman, who is referred to as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, is eight weeks pregnant and argued in the lawsuit that the government should not be able to interfere with her decision to be a parent, according to court documents. (RELATED: These Red States Saw Far Fewer Abortions After Passing Pro-Life Laws)
“Abortion is a critical component of reproductive healthcare and crucial to the ability of Kentuckians to control their lives,” the lawsuit reads. “Whether to take on the health risks and responsibilities of pregnancy and parenting is a personal and consequential decision that must be left to the individual to determine for herself without governmental interference … Without the ability to decide whether to continue a pregnancy, Kentuckians have lost the right to make critical decisions about their health, bodies, lives, and futures.”
Republican Candidate for Governor of Kentucky, Attorney General Daniel Cameron concedes to incumbent Democratic Governor Andy Beshear as his wife, Makenze Cameron, listens at the Republican election watch party at the Marriott Hotel on November 7, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Swensen/Getty Images)
The woman is suing Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Secretary of the state’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services Eric Friedlander and Executive Director of Kentucky’s Board of Medical Licensure Michael Rodman, according to the lawsuit. She is requesting that a judge rule that the bans are unconstitutional and revoke the state’s ability to enforce them.
“We at the ACLU of Kentucky said we would not rest until access to abortion was restored in our commonwealth,” Amber Duke, executive director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said in a press release. “Today, alongside our brave client Jane Doe, we renew our legal fight. Kentuckians have been forced to either travel hundreds of miles or carry pregnancies against their will, resulting in life-altering consequences and serious health risks over the past year. We know Kentuckians support access to legal, safe abortion care without government interference.”
“The Attorney General’s office is reviewing the complaint,” a spokesperson for the Attorney General told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
A judge ruled Thursday that a woman in Texas could abort her child with a fetal abnormality that doctors claim is a risk to her life, despite the state’s law banning nearly all abortions, according to the Texas Tribune. Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble wrote in her opinion that it would be a great “miscarriage of justice” if the law would force her to carry the child and potentially lose her ability to become a parent.
Friedlander and Rodman’s offices did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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