Attorneys for Kentucky woman seeking abortion withdraw lawsuit

Audio By Carbonatix

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Attorneys for a Kentucky woman who sued demanding the right to an abortion withdrew the lawsuit after the woman learned her embryo no longer has cardiac activity.

In a court filing Sunday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky told a judge the attorneys will “voluntarily dismiss” the lawsuit that was filed Dec. 8.

Lawyers for the woman pointed to a Kentucky Supreme Court decision that said abortion providers cannot sue on behalf of their patients, limiting the legal actions to individuals seeking an abortion. The lawsuit had sought class-action status.

“The court’s decision has forced Kentuckians seeking abortion to bring a lawsuit while in the middle of seeking time-sensitive health care, a daunting feat, and one that should not be necessary to reclaim the fundamental right to control their own bodies,” the ACLU of Kentucky said in a release Monday. The attorneys said they would continue to look for possible plaintiffs.

The case — Jane Doe, et al. v. Daniel Cameron, et al. — was filed on behalf of an anonymous woman who was about eight weeks pregnant. Last week, just a few days after the suit was filed, lawyers sent notice that the embryo has no cardiac activity.

The flurry of individual women petitioning a court for permission for an abortion is the latest development since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Kentucky case was similar to a legal battle in Texas, where Kate Cox, a pregnant woman with a likely fatal condition, launched an unprecedented challenge against one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation.

While Cox is believed to be the first to make such a request, her legal team and other experts anticipate additional challenges among the dozen of other GOP-controlled states where abortion is largely prohibited at all stages of pregnancy.

Kentucky's Republican-dominated General Assembly passed a trigger law in 2019 that took effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. It bans abortions except when they are carried out to save the life of the patient or to prevent disabling injury. It does not include exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

Kentucky voters last year rejected a ballot measure that would have denied any constitutional protections for abortion, but abortion rights supporters have made no inroads with lawmakers in chipping away at the state’s anti-abortion laws.