LOUISVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — The American Civil Liberties Union sued Kentucky on Wednesday challenging a new law that restricts abortion in the commonwealth.
Gov. Matt Bevin signed House Bill 454 into law Tuesday. Among its provisions, the law bans an abortion method called "dilation and evacuation."
The ACLU’s federal lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court, seeks to stop enforcement of the law immediately while the case is decided.
“We’re suing Kentucky yet again — this time to stop state politicians from banning a safe abortion method,” Talcott Camp, deputy director with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a statement. “This law disregards a woman’s health and decisions in favor of a narrow ideological agenda.”
Kentucky is among a handful of states that have only one abortion provider .
“Kentucky politicians have already shut down all but one abortion clinic in our state,” said Michael Aldridge, executive director of the ACLU of Kentucky. “Now they want to invade the exam room and stop doctors from providing safe, quality care. It’s shameless, insulting, and dangerous.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are EMW Women’s Surgical Center, P.S.C., on behalf of itself, its staff, and its patients, as well as two physicians who provide care at EMW, on behalf of themselves and their patients.
