FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 3, 2020) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron today joined 20 states in filing an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in June Medical Services, LLC v. Dr. Rebekah Gee. The case centers on a Louisiana law that protects women’s health by requiring abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a local hospital in the event of an emergency or complication resulting from the procedure.
The challenge to this health and safety-based regulation is brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of a Louisiana abortion clinic and two abortion doctors. In the amicus brief, Attorney General Cameron joins other states in arguing that it is imperative for states to make and enforce the laws and regulations regarding health and safety that govern abortion procedures.
The brief also argues that abortion doctors and abortion facilities do not have standing to bring a lawsuit on behalf of patients. This is an especially important issue because most abortion litigation is brought not by women, but by abortion doctors and clinics. The brief points out that the interests of doctors and facilities do not align with patients because doctors and facilities often focus on minimizing compliance costs, whereas patients are concerned primarily with their safety and well-being.
“We cannot allow the self-interested motives of abortion providers and facilities to dictate the circumstances under which abortion procedures are performed,” said Attorney General Cameron. “If Louisiana’s commonsense law is overturned, it will set a dangerous precedent that allows the very industry that profits from abortions to now regulate abortions and determine what is safe for pregnant women.”
The brief notes that abortion-related cases “have become vehicles by which abortion practitioners and facilities attack health-and-safety regulations designed to protect women—the same women whose rights the practitioners claim to invoke—from the practitioners themselves.”
Some of Kentucky’s pending abortion-related litigation concerns statutes designed to protect the health and safety of women, including Kentucky’s transfer-agreement law. These challenges to Kentucky’s pro-life laws are brought not by Kentucky women, but by the state’s sole abortion clinic, EMW Women’s Surgical Center and its owner and doctors. In 2017, the EMW clinic in Lexington closed after a lawsuit raised concerns about the health and safety of women at the clinic.
The brief cites several recent examples of malfeasance by abortion practitioners, such as Ulrich Klopfer of Indiana, who seemingly advocated for the interests of patients while maintaining horrific health practices. Klopfer was known for championing abortion rights, presumably on behalf of patients, while simultaneously amassing thousands of remains of unborn children in his home and car.
The Supreme Court will hear the June Medical Services case in March. Attorneys General from Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia joined General Cameron in signing the brief.
A copy of the brief is available here.