Kentucky is about to become the first state to de facto ban abortion by shutting down all clinics by over-regulation.
Watch below:
WATCH: Kentucky could become the first U.S. state without an abortion clinic https://t.co/BevLA8nssm via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/eAR6UfEN5M
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) September 6, 2017
Here’s more from the losers at NPR:
Kentucky is down to only one clinic that performs abortions: the EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville. A trial kicking off Wednesday morning in federal court in Louisville will decide whether Kentucky will become the only state without a single such clinic.
Republican Gov. Matt Bevin tried to shut down the EMW center earlier this year after his administration told the clinic that it was failing to meet state health regulations requiring clinics that provide abortions to have transfer agreements with local hospitals and ambulance services in case of medical emergencies.
Bevin’s administration notified the clinic in March that its agreement had been deemed insufficient. In response, lawyers for the EMW center filed a federal lawsuit claiming the administration’s complaint had come “out of the blue.” The clinic at one point came within days of closing, but the administration and clinic later reached an agreement allowing it to stay open while litigation is underway.
The center has been the site of several recent protests by anti-abortion-rights groups seeing the potential for both a real and symbolic victory for their cause.
Apparently there are 7 states in the union, including Kentucky, that only have one abortion clinic.