Kentucky woman seeking abortion sues state over near-total ban

A Kentucky woman who wants an abortion filed a lawsuit Tuesday to strike down the state's near-total ban.

The lawsuit alleges the woman, referred to as Mary Poe, is about seven weeks pregnant and is suffering severe harms because the government has denied her access to the care she needs.

The complaint, filed in a state circuit court, seeks to strike down Kentucky’s two abortion laws as unconstitutional under the state’s rights to privacy and self-determination.

“The threat of criminal penalties from the bans has forced health care providers to stop providing abortions to Mary Poe and all others seeking this time-sensitive healthcare and they have been forced to turn away all patients seeking abortion in Kentucky since the two challenged laws were allowed to take effect,” the complaint states.

The complaint also requests the court certify a class of all pregnant Kentuckians who seek access to abortion in the commonwealth but cannot obtain that care because of the bans.

The lawsuit said Poe and other potential future class members "are suffering medical, constitutional, and irreparable harm because they are denied the ability to obtain an abortion."

Kentucky has two overlapping abortion bans, rendering the procedure illegal in almost every circumstance.

The state’s "trigger" law banning nearly all abortions was passed in 2019 and took effect in 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. It bans all abortions except those carried out to save the life of the patient. It does not include exceptions for cases of rape, incest or severe fetal anomalies.

The state also has a six-week “heartbeat” law in effect, which bans abortion after detection of fetal cardiac activity and charges providers with a felony if they perform an abortion to prevent the death or “substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function” of the pregnant woman. The six-week ban also contains no exceptions for rape or incest.

“I have decided that ending my pregnancy is the best decision for me and my family. I feel overwhelmed and frustrated that I cannot access abortion care here in my own state, and I have started the difficult process of arranging to get care in another state where it’s legal,” Poe said in a statement. "I am bringing this case to ensure that other Kentuckians will not have to go through what I am going through, and instead will be able to get the health care they need in our community.”

Kentucky voters in 2022 rejected a ballot measure that would have denied constitutional protections for abortion, but there’s been no progress in the legislature or courts to loosen the laws.

In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky said the lawsuit is the “next step” in overturning the current bans.

“We hope for an ultimate victory that aligns with the will of the people and overturns these unconstitutional bans.” Amber Duke, executive director for the ACLU of Kentucky said in the statement. “We applaud Mary’s bravery in partnering with us to renew this legal fight. We know Kentuckians support access to abortion care without government interference.”

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled last year that the state’s two abortion clinics did not have standing to challenge the ban on behalf of their patients, so advocates have now started to bring lawsuits on behalf of patients.

Last year, the ACLU was involved in a similar lawsuit to try to overturn the state’s bans, but the complaint was ultimately withdrawn.