CINCINNATI (KT) – Oral arguments were heard Wednesday at the 6th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on the constitutionality of legislation passed by the Kentucky General Assembly on restricting use after 11 weeks of an abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation.
The measure, House Bill 454, easily passed both chambers in the 2018 General Assembly and was signed into law by then-Gov. Matt Bevin.
A federal lawsuit was filed by the ACLU of Kentucky, on behalf of EMW Women’s Surgical Center of Louisville, the state’s only abortion clinic. In May 2019, a judge at U. S. District Court in Louisville found the bill was unconstitutional, and permanently blocked its enforcement; a decision appealed by the Bevin Administration, leading to the hearing.
The three-judge panel will hand down a ruling at a later date.