Abortion in Kentucky
Effective upon
The number of abortion clinics has declined over time, with eleven abortion clinics in 1982, nine in 1992, two in 2002, and one in 2017. There were 4,923 legal abortions in 2014, and 4,585 in 2015.
History
Legislative history
By the end of the 1800s, all states in the Union except Louisiana had therapeutic exceptions in their legislative bans on abortions.[5] In the 19th century, bans by state legislatures on abortion were about protecting the life of the mother given the number of deaths caused by abortions; state governments saw themselves as looking out for the lives of their citizens.[5]
In 1974, Kentucky adopted a law preventing public hospitals from performing abortion procedures except to protect the life of the mother.
The 1981 unlawful abortion conviction of a Wayne County, Kentucky man put the issue of abortion before the Kentucky Supreme Court.[8] In 1983, the court ruled that the seven-month-old fetus killed by the man during an attack on his wife could not be defined as a person under the Model Penal Code.[8] In response to the court's ruling, Democratic State Representative Carl Nett introduced a fetal homicide bill in the 1986 General Assembly; the bill passed the House but was not considered in the Senate.[8]
During the 1982 Kentucky General Assembly, Democrat William I. Donnermeyer Sr. introduced a bill placing several restrictions and conditions on abortion; to wit: parental consent was required before an abortion could be performed on a minor, husbands must be informed if their wives underwent an abortion, a woman seeking an abortion must wait 24 hours before having the procedure and must be provided with information on fetal development and abortion alternatives, and doctors must document the reasons giving for a woman seeking an abortion.[9] Despite an opinion issued by then-Attorney General Steve Beshear holding that the law was not constitutional, it was enacted by the legislature.[9] The ACLU filed suit against the law in June 1982, preventing it from becoming effective on July 15 of that year.[9] In September 1984, U.S. District Judge Charles M. Allen struck down most of the law's provisions.[9] The 1986 General Assembly passed legislation again requiring parental consent for minors seeking abortions.[10] The law required the consent of only the custodial parent if the parents did not live together, and also allowed the minor to petition a district or circuit court for permission.[11] Judge Allen upheld this law in a 1988 ruling.[11]
In 1998, the General Assembly passed legislation that required clinics to have an Abortion Clinic License if they wanted to operate. Part of this was a requirement for a transfer agreement between the clinic and a hospital and ambulance.[12] Kentucky was one of 23 states in 2007 to have a detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement.[13]
The Kentucky General Assembly was one of four states that tried and failed, to pass an early abortion ban bill in 2012 and again in 2014 when they were one of five states making the attempt.
They were one of six states to try again to ban abortion in 2017 and were one of eleven states again in 2018.[14]
Prior to 2019, Kentucky law prohibited abortions after week 22. This changed when the state legislature passed a law that moved the prohibition to week 6 in the early part of the year.
A similar bill by State Representative Robert Goforth was introduced in the Kentucky House of Representatives. The bill, HB 100, which was pre-filed on December 13, 2018, was referred to the Health and Family Services Committee on January 10, 2019.[28] When asked about the bill, Goforth, who announced his candidacy for Governor of Kentucky on January 8, 2019, the same day the bill was introduced, said he would be pleased if Kentucky or one of the other states considering similar measures enacted such a law and, in the event of the court challenge, took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade.[25]
On April 14, 2022, House Bill 3 was passed by the predominately Republican legislature, overturning a veto by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, and made effective immediately under an emergency clause.[29] Modeled after a similar ban in Mississippi, the bill banned all abortions in the state after 15 weeks post-conception and introduced a number of regulations and restrictions, including a prohibition on mailing abortion pills, new systems to certify, monitor and publicly name physicians who conduct abortion procedures, "dignified care for the terminated remains of pregnancy loss," and mandatory disclosure of patient information.[30] As the infrastructure was not in place for these new requirements, the two abortion clinics operating in Kentucky had to shut down, making abortion de facto illegal in the state. In response, abortion-rights activists sued the state to challenge the law, with Planned Parenthood and the ACLU stating that the law unconstitutionally bans abortion by introducing requirements that can't be followed or are too arduous to comply with and that it violates patient privacy protections; this led to the law being blocked in federal court later in 2022.[31][32]
On June 24, 2022, the 2019 trigger law took effect after the ruling for
In November 2022, voters defeated a ballot question that would have amended the state constitution to clarify that the constitution does not protect abortion rights.[35]
Judicial history
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 1973's
On February 16, 2023, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that abortion providers lacked standing to challenge the state's abortion ban, but did not elaborate on whether or not the Kentucky Constitution secured abortion rights.[40]
In December 2023, the
Clinic history
There were three or four abortion service providers in Louisville in 1981. That year, EMW Women's Surgical Center opened in the city.[12] In 1989, EMW Women's Surgical Center opened a satellite clinic in Lexington. Both clinics were run by Dr. Sam Eubanks and Dr. Ernest Marshall. Eubanks died in 2013.[12] Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state decreased by two, going from eleven in 1982 to nine in 1992.[42]
Since around 2002, the two EMW Women's Surgical Centers were the only abortion providers in the state. Other ones that had existed in the state had voluntarily closed.[12] In 2014, there were two abortion clinics in the state.[43] In 2014, 98% of the 120 counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 74% of women in the state aged 15–44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic.[44]
In 2017, there were two Planned Parenthood clinics, neither of which offered abortion services, in a state with a population of 996,488 women aged 15–49.[45] North Dakota, Wyoming, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia were the only six states as of July 21, 2017, not to have a Planned Parenthood clinic that offered abortion services.[45] In early 2017, EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville was the only facility in the state of Kentucky that provided women with abortion services. Another clinic in Lexington run by the same organization had closed in January that year because it could not meet new licensing requirements. Kentucky's Republican Governor, Matt Bevin, worked to try to close EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville down.[12] In May 2019, the state was one of six states in the nation with only one abortion clinic.[46] Planned Parenthood Louisville started providing abortion services in 2020,[47] leading to the state having two providers, both in Louisville, that performed abortions until the near-total ban in 2022.[31]
Statistics
In the period between 1972 and 1974, the state had an illegal abortion mortality rate per million women aged 15–44 of between 0.1 and 0.9.[48] In 1990, 401,000 women in the state faced the risk of unintended pregnancy.[42] In 2010, the state had zero publicly funded abortions.[49] In 2013, among white women aged 15–19, there were 450 abortions, 170 abortions for black women aged 15–19, 30 abortions for Hispanic women aged 15–19, and 20 abortions for women of all other races.[50] In 2014, 36% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.[51] 57% of people in Kentucky said abortion should be "illegal in all or most cases".[52] According to a 2014 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) study, 60% of white women in the state believed that abortion be illegal in all or most cases.[53] In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 6.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.[54]
Census division and state | Number | Rate | % change 1992–1996 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | 1995 | 1996 | 1992 | 1995 | 1996 | ||
Total | 1,528,930 | 1,363,690 | 1,365,730 | 25.9 | 22.9 | 22.9 | –12 |
East South Central | 54,060 | 44,010 | 46,100 | 14.9 | 12 | 12.5 | –17 |
Alabama | 17,450 | 14,580 | 15,150 | 18.2 | 15 | 15.6 | –15 |
Kentucky | 10,000 | 7,770 | 8,470 | 11.4 | 8.8 | 9.6 | –16 |
Mississippi | 7,550 | 3,420 | 4,490 | 12.4 | 5.5 | 7.2 | –42 |
Tennessee | 19,060 | 18,240 | 17,990 | 16.2 | 15.2 | 14.8 | –8 |
Location | Residence | Occurrence | % obtained by out-of-state residents |
Year | Ref | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Rate^ | Ratio^^ | No. | Rate^ | Ratio^^ | ||||
Kentucky | 10,000 | 11.4 | 1992 | [55] | |||||
Kentucky | 7,770 | 8.8 | 1995 | [55] | |||||
Kentucky | 8,470 | 9.6 | 1996 | [55] | |||||
Kentucky | 4,923 | 5.8 | 88 | 3,442 | 4.0 | 61 | 11.3 | 2014 | [56] |
Kentucky | 4,585 | 5.4 | 82 | 3,188 | 3.7 | 57 | 12.8 | 2015 | [57] |
Kentucky | 4,586 | 5.4 | 83 | 3,312 | 3.9 | 60 | 14.0 | 2016 | [58] |
^number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44; ^^number of abortions per 1,000 live births |
Anti-abortion activism
Since 2005, an annual event called Cross the Bridge For Life has occurred in support of the anti-abortion movement in
Abortion rights activism
Protests
Women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019.[60]
Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, abortion rights protests were held in Louisville,[61] Lexington,[62] Frankfort,[63] Bowling Green[64] and Covington.[65]
Footnotes
References
- ^ Kentucky high court upholds state abortion bans while case continues
- ^ a b c Judge temporarily blocks KY's trigger law banning abortions. Procedure can continue for now MSN.com
- ^ a b Appeals court rules against AG Daniel Cameron's efforts to halt abortions in Kentucky
- ^ a b Kentucky Supreme Court denies state AG's request to have abortion ban reinstated
- ^ from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Chellgren, Mark (January 27, 1987). "Law Limiting Abortions Out of Line, Opinion Says". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. B1.
- ^ Lawrence, Keith (July 4, 1989). "ACLU chief says ruling to end suit against ODCH". Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer. p. 8A.
- ^ a b c Duke, Jacqueline (August 27, 1987). "Killer May Be Charged in Death of Fetus". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. B1.
- ^ a b c d Davis, Merlene (September 14, 1984). "Group Says It May Appeal Abortion Ruling Right to Life Association Disappointed That Judge Struck Down 1982 State Law". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. B1.
- ^ Duke, Jacqueline (April 8, 1986). "New Legislation Varies in Effect On Typical Kentuckian". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. B1.
- ^ a b Rutherford, Glen (August 26, 1988). "Court Upholds Consent Law for Abortions Civil Liberties Union Expected to Challenge Ruling". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. C1.
- ^ a b c d e f McCann, Allison (May 23, 2017). "Seven states have only one remaining abortion clinic. We talked to the people keeping them open". Vice News. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
- ^ "State Policy On Informed Consent for Abortion" (PDF). Guttmacher Policy Review. Fall 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "TRAP Laws Gain Political Traction While Abortion Clinics—and the Women They Serve—Pay the Price". Guttmacher Institute. June 27, 2013. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
- ^ "2013 Regular Session - House Bill 132". Kentucky General Assembly. Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
- ^ "KY HB132 - 2013 - Regular Session". LegiScan. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "2014 Regular Session - House Bill 132". Kentucky General Assembly. Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
- ^ "KY HB132 - 2014 - Regular Session". LegiScan. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ Cheves, John (January 19, 2014). "Abortion laws in the balance if GOP gains control of house, changes could come swiftly". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. 1A.
- ^ "New abortion-related fight in Kentucky heats up over fetal heartbeats". NBC News. Associated Press. January 9, 2019. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
- ^ "2019 Regular Session - Senate Bill 9". Kentucky General Assembly. Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
- ^ "The Latest: Kentucky Senate passes fetal heartbeat bill". The Washington Post. February 14, 2019. Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
The Kentucky Senate has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would ban most abortions in the state once a fetal heartbeat is detected. The Republican-led chamber's 31-6 vote on Thursday came a few hours after the measure cleared a committee. The bill now goes to the state House, which is also run by Republicans.
- ^ "KY SB9 - 2019 - Regular Session". LegiScan. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ a b Yetter, Deborah (January 10, 2019). "After striking out twice, GOP tries again to 'effectively' ban abortion". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
And he said he would be pleased if Kentucky or one of the other states considering similar measures enacted such a law and, in the event of a court challenge, took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade
- ^ Heller, Marsha (March 15, 2019). "KY House passes fetal heartbeat bill". KFVS 12 (CBS). Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
Senate Bill 9, known as the "fetal heartbeat bill", was passed by the Kentucky House on Thursday, March 14, by a vote of 71-19.
- ^ "EMW Women's Surgical Center v. Meier: Six-Week Ban and Reason Ban". Archived from the original on November 25, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
- ^ "2019 Regular Session - House Bill 100". Kentucky General Assembly. Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
- ^ Rickert, Aprile (April 13, 2022). "UPDATED: Ky. legislature overrides veto on 15-week abortion ban, lawsuits announced". 89.3 WFPL News Louisville. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
- ^ Acquisto, Alex (April 14, 2022). "KY Republicans override Beshear's veto of the sweeping abortion bill. It takes effect immediately". Lexington Herald-Leader. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
- ^ a b Schreiner, Bruce; Blackburn, Piper Hudspeth (April 14, 2022). "Abortions stop in Kentucky as groups seek to block new law". ABC News. AP. Archived from the original on April 15, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
- ^ "Planned Parenthood, ACLU sue to block restrictive Kentucky abortion bill. Here's why". Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ^ Yetter, Deborah. "Abortion ends in Kentucky as Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade due to trigger law". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ Rickert, Aprile (June 24, 2022). "After Dobbs decision, nearly all abortions now illegal in Kentucky". 89.3 WFPL News Louisville. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ Kitchener, Caroline; Bellware, Kim; Roubein, Rachel (November 9, 2022). "Abortion rights advocates score major midterm victories across the country". Washington Post.
- ^ "Kentucky abortion law blocked in win for clinics". AP NEWS. April 21, 2022. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
- ^ "A federal judge temporarily blocks Kentucky's new abortion law". NPR. The Associated Press. April 21, 2022. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
- ^ de Vogue, Arinne (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade". CNN. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ Howe, Amy (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns constitutional right to abortion". SCOTUSblog. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
- ^ Gonzalez, Oriana (February 16, 2023). "Kentucky Supreme Court refuses to block state abortion bans". Axios.
- ^ Kruesi, Kimberlee; Schreiner, Bruce (December 8, 2023). "Pregnant woman in Kentucky sues for the right to get an abortion". PBS News Hour.
- ^ ISBN 9780788174810. Archivedfrom the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- ^ Gould, Rebecca Harrington, Skye. "The number of abortion clinics in the US has plunged in the last decade — here's how many are in each state". Business Insider. Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "This is what could happen if Roe v. Wade fell". Business Insider (in Spanish). August 4, 2018. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ a b "Here's Where Women Have Less Access to Planned Parenthood". Archived from the original on May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
- ^ Holly Yan (May 29, 2019). "These 6 states have only 1 abortion clinic left. Missouri could become the first with zero". CNN. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
- ^ "Planned Parenthood to Expand Abortion Access in Kentucky". www.plannedparenthood.org. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
- PMID 1269687.
- ^ "Guttmacher Data Center". data.guttmacher.org. Archived from the original on November 3, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "No. of abortions among women aged 15–19, by state of residence, 2013 by racial group". Guttmacher Data Center. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
- ^ "Views about abortion by state - Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics". Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
- ^ Bacon, Perry Jr. (May 16, 2019). "Three Reasons There's A New Push To Limit Abortion In State Legislatures". FiveThirtyEight. Archived from the original on May 26, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
- ^ Brownstein, Ronald (May 23, 2019). "White Women Are Helping States Pass Abortion Restrictions". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on May 26, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
- ^ "States pushing abortion bans have highest infant mortality rates". NBC News. May 24, 2019. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Henshaw, Stanley K. (June 15, 2005). "Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States, 1995-1996". Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 30: 263–270. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
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- from the original on November 29, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
- ^ "Cross the Bridge For Life". www.crossthebridgeforlife.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
- ^ Bacon, John. "Abortion rights supporters' voices thunder at #StopTheBans rallies across the nation". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Rickert, Aprile (June 24, 2022). "'A post-Roe world': Hundreds gather in Louisville to protest SCOTUS ruling". WFPL. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
- ^ Hermens, Ryan (June 24, 2022). "People gather in Lexington to protest the fall of Roe v. Wade". Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
- ^ Johnson, Rae (June 27, 2022). "Capitol reactions: Hundreds of people flock to Frankfort to protest overturn of Roe v Wade". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
- ^ Schimmel, Becca (June 25, 2022). "Bowling Green joins list of cities across the state and nation where abortion rights supporters protest Supreme Court ruling". WKU. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
- ^ Fening, Madeline (October 10, 2022). "Northern Kentucky Pro-Choice Demonstrators Ask Voters to Reject Amendment 2". CityBeat. Retrieved October 17, 2022.