FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 18, 2022) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron today continued his defense of Kentucky’s Human Life Protection Act and Heartbeat Law. The Attorney General asked a Jefferson Circuit Court Judge to deny a request by Kentucky’s two abortion facilities for a temporary injunction that would extend a previous order preventing enforcement of the laws against the facilities. The abortion providers claim that the laws violate a never-before-recognized state constitutional right to abortion.
In June, the Jefferson Circuit Court issued a temporary restraining order, allowing abortions to resume in Kentucky at EMW and Planned Parenthood, both in Louisville. Attorney General Cameron immediately asked the Commonwealth’s appellate courts to overrule the order. The Court of Appeals and Supreme Court denied the motions, and the case continues to proceed in Jefferson Circuit Court.
“The Human Life Protection Act and the Heartbeat Law reflect Kentucky’s commitment to protecting unborn life, a commitment that I share and will continue to advocate for by defending these important laws,” said Attorney General Cameron. “Every day that these laws are prohibited from taking effect, elective abortions will continue and more unborn lives will be lost. We’re asking the court to reinstate the laws while the litigation continues.”
In the filing, Attorney General Cameron writes, “The nature of the immediate and irreparable harm here is especially pernicious. The non-enforcement of even ordinary statutes amounts to irreparable harm. The non-enforcement of the Human Life Protection Act and Heartbeat Law amounts to something far more grave. These laws prohibit what the General Assembly has determined is the unjustified taking of unborn human life. So every day that these laws are not enforced is a day in which unborn children of the Commonwealth perish.”
Attorney General Cameron today also filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that the abortion facilities do not have standing to bring the lawsuit and that the Kentucky constitution leaves decisions about abortion to the General Assembly.
View the filings here, here, and here.