Kentucky Supreme Court Upholds State Abortion Ban

Abortion rights advocates in the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., demonstrate in April against a bill adopted by lawmakers to place on November’s ballot a proposed amendment that declares there is no right to abortion in the state’s constitution, one of at least six abortion-related ballot measures that will go before voters in 2022. AP Photo/Bruce Schreiner

Kentucky maintained its near-total abortion ban after the state’s highest court ruled in favor of a challenge to an injunction against the law on Feb. 16.

The case before the Kentucky Supreme Court challenged the state’s ban on almost all abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy. The court was faced with a narrow legal issue appealed in the wake of the 2022 Supreme Court case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which withdrew the federal protection for abortion, after which Kentucky’s “trigger law” banning most abortions took effect.