Planned Parenthood, ACLU forced to drop lawsuit against red state’s pro-life laws

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood announced Monday that they were dropping a lawsuit against the state of Kentucky over its pro-life laws.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron on Dec. 8 on behalf of a pregnant woman from Kentucky, who wished to abort her roughly eight-week-old unborn child but was unable to do so because of Kentucky’s laws prohibiting abortion. Four days later, the woman at the center of the lawsuit was informed that her child no longer had a heartbeat, forcing the ACLU to drop the lawsuit, while encouraging other women to come forward, according to the announcement.

“The Kentucky Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year to take away health care providers’ ability to raise the rights of their patients has backed Kentuckians into a corner,” the ACLU and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest said in a joint statement. “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. But we won’t stop fighting. We encourage others in Kentucky who are currently pregnant and seeking abortion to reach out to us if they are interested in bringing a case.”

The lawsuit also targeted a six-week ban requiring doctors to determine if there is a fetal heartbeat before performing an abortion.

Abortion is illegal in Kentucky, except if a doctor determines it is necessary to save the life of the mother or prevent disabling injury, due to a trigger law passed in 2019 that went into effect following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022, according to The Associated Press.

The Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the laws in February after Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit on behalf of several abortion clinics in the state. The court determined that the plaintiffs did not have “standing” and reprimanded a lower court for temporarily halting the laws’ enforcement.

The ACLU and Cameron’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.