By Dave Andrusko
As we reported late yesterday, the Kentucky Supreme Court issued an order that keeps Kentucky’s Human Life Protection Act and Heartbeat Law in effect while the case before the Court is pending. “The justices declined to grant emergency relief but accepted the case and ordered the parties to submit,” Court House News reported.
Kentucky’s last two abortion providers filed a lawsuit in June and won the early legal battles. “The judge in the state court action granted the providers’ motion for a temporary restraining order several days after the complaint was filed, an order that was eventually extended in July,” Ken Koeninger reported.
“However, an appeals court judge overturned the injunction and reinstated the law on Aug. 1, following a successful appeal by Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron.”
The Supreme Court justices harshly criticized the Kentucky Court of Appeals. For example, Chief Justice John Minton Jr. wrote
“It is difficult to comprehend a more important or serious legal issue than legal access to abortion in the Commonwealth…Put differently, if review of access to abortion under these circumstances does not provide extraordinary cause warranting emergency interlocutory review by this court, what issue would constitute extraordinary cause?”
He also “scolded the appeals court for failing to engage in any meaningful analysis of the trial court’s decision and instead ‘making its own legal conclusions without citing to any of the factual findings from the evidentiary hearing,’” according to Koeninger.
Attorney General Daniel Cameron hailed the decision, “With this ruling, the Kentucky Supreme Court has left in place a ruling by that allowed the laws to be enforced after a Jefferson Circuit Court Judge’s order had temporarily blocked both laws.”
“In Dobbs, the United States Supreme Court returned the issue of abortion to the elected representatives of the people of each state,” said Attorney General Cameron. “So that the promises of Dobbs may be realized, and to avoid being embroiled in another 50 years of political acrimony, courts around the country, and here at home, must allow our policy makers in the General Assembly to speak for the people they represent. “
He added, “We are pleased with this victory for life and the rule of law and will continue to prepare for the arguments the Court has scheduled.”