FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky’s attorney general said Friday that abortions in the state should cease as part of the governor’s order halting elective medical procedures because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is anti-abortion, called on the state’s acting health and family services secretary to certify that abortion providers are violating the ban by continuing to perform the procedure. The certification would trigger action by the attorney general’s office to stop elective procedures during the pandemic, Cameron said in a statement.
“Abortion providers should join the thousands of other medical professionals across the state in ceasing elective procedures, unless the life of the mother is at risk, to protect the health of their patients and slow the spread of the coronavirus,” Cameron said.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Beshear supports abortion rights but backs “reasonable restrictions,” especially on late-term procedures.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky accused Cameron of trying to take advantage of a public health crisis to push an anti-abortion agenda.
“Everyone’s situation is different and it is critical that people be able to make their own decisions about continuing or ending a pregnancy, in consultation with their loved ones and their health providers,” said Heather Gatnarek, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Kentucky.
EMW Women’s Surgical Center, an abortion clinic in Louisville, is following guidance from public health experts to minimize patients’ risk of contact with the virus, Gatnarek said. That includes following social-distancing guidelines and screening patients for virus symptoms, she said.
Cameron’s action also was condemned by Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky. Planned Parenthood said it recently began offering abortion services in Louisville under a provisional license. Its clinic is following the same safeguards to minimize patients’ risk of getting the virus, it said.
The Family Foundation, a conservative, anti-abortion group, has criticized the continuation of abortion services in Kentucky during the ban on elective medical procedures.
The group’s executive director, Kent Ostrander, said Thursday that abortion procedures are “certainly not ‘life sustaining’ but yet” remain available.
“And clearly its services are ‘elective,’ so … it should be closed,” he said.
Officials in Ohio, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas have likewise interpreted executive orders that limit nonessential medical procedures to bar many abortions. In Tennessee, a spokesman for Gov. Bill Lee said he “believes elective abortions aren’t essential procedures” and shouldn’t be performed under his state’s order. Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers are suing Texas over the move, and representatives of Ohio clinics said that they were in compliance with the state’s order and planned to continue providing abortions.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.
In Kentucky, Cameron’s decision to step forward on the hot-button issue comes as the state’s lawmakers consider a bill to empower the attorney general’s office to regulate abortion. The measure was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday and goes to the full Senate next. It already passed the House. The GOP controls both chambers.
The ACLU has denounced the bill as a “blatant power grab.”
Under current law, the attorney general needs authorization from the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services before taking such action against abortion clinics, the bill’s supporters say. The proposal seeks to give the attorney general independent authority on such matters.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.