WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Kentucky's attorney general, who wants to be allowed to defend a restriction on abortion rights that lower courts had struck down.
The underlying issue in the case, to be heard in the fall, is a blocked Kentucky law that abortion rights supporters say would have effectively banned a standard abortion method in the second trimester of pregnancy.
But the issue before the court is whether Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, can intervene in the case, after rulings from a trial court and appellate panel, as well as Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's decision to drop the case.
The law was adopted in 2018, when Republican Matt Bevin was governor. Following a lawsuit by abortion providers, a trial court permanently blocked the law, finding it would have made it impossible to perform the abortion procedure known as dilation and extraction. A panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling in June 2020.
Five days later, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to strike down an unrelated Louisiana law regulating abortion clinics. But Cameron, who became attorney
general in 2019, said the reasoning used by the high court called into question the ruling against the Kentucky law.
The appeals court, however, rejected his efforts to intervene, prompting his appeal to the Supreme Court.
"I promised Kentuckians that I would defend our laws all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and that's what we've done," Cameron said in a statement.
The American Civil Liberties Union, representing the abortion clinic that had sued over the law, had urged the court to stay out of the case.
"This case is only about whether the Attorney General, after having sat on the sidelines of this lawsuit, can jump in at the last minute in an effort to revive an unconstitutional law," ACLU lawyer Andrew Beck said in a statement.
In February, Kentucky's Republican-led legislature gave Cameron the power to seek civil and criminal penalties for any violation of Kentucky's abortion laws. Beshear had initially vetoed the measure.
- Posted March 30, 2021
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
U.S. high court to hear bid for new defense of Kentucky abortion law
headlines Detroit
- Freelance court reporter enjoys serving as ‘guardian of the record’
- Federal judges approve redraw of Detroit-area state House seats ahead of 2024 election
- Many deserving candidates for Outstanding Hypocrite Award
- Daily Briefs
- LAWBreaks offers students pro bono lawyering opportunities over winter break
headlines National
- 50 Years of Service: ABA has been a ‘stalwart ally’ for LSC funding
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Biden recalls time he bluffed knowledge of torts case and why he changed his mind about civil-trial work
- Lawyers’ ‘barrage of personal attacks’ on opponents started with tissue-box toss, appeals court says
- Longtime prosecutor resigns after judge tosses him from case, citing Perry Mason-type revelations
- 24% of law students expect to work in public service, survey says