Judge strikes down Kentucky law banning abortion procedure.
A federal judge has struck down a 2018 Kentucky law banning a type of abortion generally performed after the 14th week of pregnancy, a victory for abortion rights activists and a setback for the administration of Gov. Matt Bevin, which defended it.
In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Joseph McKinley ruled the law is unconstitutional because it restricts a woman's constitutional right to an abortion before the fetus is considered viable, at around 24 weeks.
"Laws like this are part of an orchestrated national strategy by anti-abortion politicians to push abortion out of reach entirely.
The law, signed by Bevin, was immediately challenged by the ACLU on behalf of the state's only abortion clinic, EMW Women's Surgical Center.
It is among a wave of abortion bills enacted in recent years by the Republican-controlled General Assembly aimed at restricting or eliminating abortion in Kentucky.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court recently upheld a 2017 state abortion law that had been struck by the trial judge as unconstitutional. »
