A judge extended an order blocking key portions of a Kentucky law that had forced the state's two clinics to temporarily halt abortions. The law's 15-week ban on abortions will remain blocked until the Supreme Court rules on a related case in Mississippi.
Kentucky Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is defending the new law in court, said the judge’s latest order was disappointing but added that the case is “far from over.”
Overshadowing the Kentucky dispute is the abortion case before the U.S. Supreme Court. A recently leaked draft opinion suggested the nation’s high court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. In the Kentucky case, Jennings found issues with the new state requirements. She wrote that it’s undisputed that the new abortion measure “does not contain funding for the forms, regulations, and programs required” by the law.
Supporters of the new law say the goal is to protect women’s health and strengthen oversight. Opponents say the objective all along was to stop abortions in the state.