Washington D.C., Oct 12, 2021 / 14:10 pm
The office of Kentucky’s attorney general appeared at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, asking to be allowed to intervene in defense of the state’s dismemberment abortion ban.
Kentucky’s pro-life law, H.B. 454, passed the state legislature in 2018 and was signed into law by then-governor Matt Bevin (R). It bans the practice of live dismemberment abortions, a second-trimester abortion procedure, after eleven weeks of pregnancy. The law was subsequently challenged by the state’s only abortion facility, and was overturned in a federal court.
While the current governor and health secretary do not support the law, Kentucky’s attorney general Daniel Cameron (R) is seeking to intervene in defense of the law and to have it reconsidered at the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. When the Sixth Circuit would not allow Cameron to intervene in the case, the attorney general appealed to the Supreme Court.
After oral arguments concluded on Tuesday, Cameron said he was “excited” and “optimistic” about his case, calling it an “honor” to seek to defend the law.