LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – A judge has allowed a Kentucky ban on abortions after 15 weeks, which was passed as part of an omnibus pro-life bill, to go into effect.
According to WFPL News, on July 14, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings lifted part of her injunction of pro-life House Bill 3 and reinstated the state’s 15-week abortion ban, citing the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
House Bill 3 reflects the values of Kentuckians by protecting unborn life. While we are pleased that the court allowed the 15-week prohibition on abortions to go into effect, we look forward to the day that all of its provisions are in effect.
— Attorney General Daniel Cameron (@kyoag) July 15, 2022
“House Bill 3 reflects the values of Kentuckians by protecting unborn life,” Attorney General Daniel Cameron tweeted. “While we are pleased that the court allowed the 15-week prohibition on abortions to go into effect, we look forward to the day that all of its provisions are in effect.”
While the pro-life bill was passed in April, Jennings soon issued an injunction against it, stopping the pro-life law from being enacted. Following the reversal of Roe v. Wade in June, Cameron filed a request to reinstate the bill.
House Bill 3 prohibits abortions committed past 15 weeks as well as the dispensation of abortion pills by mail. It requires parental consent for minors’ abortions and humane burial or cremation of aborted babies.
A challenge to the state’s “trigger law,” which would completely ban abortion, is still pending in the Jefferson Circuit Court. In June, Judge Mitch Perry issued a restraining order, temporally blocking the pro-life law. The ruling is scheduled to be released on July 18.
