LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Attorneys for Kentucky’s last abortion clinic said as a federal trial opened Wednesday that state regulators are using “onerous” rules to try to shut it down, predicting some women would “take the matter into their own hands” to end unwanted pregnancies if the state succeeds.
“There will be no abortions in Kentucky if they win,” clinic attorney Donald L. Cox said as proceedings began in a court case that could determine whether Kentucky becomes the nation’s first state without an abortion clinic.
The state’s attorney, Steve Pitt, said the regulation reflects the state’s vested interest in protecting women’s health. Pitt said that Kentucky women live no more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from abortion clinics in neighboring states and many live much closer. Some women travel across Kentucky to receive abortions at EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville.
Cox said that shutting down the EMW facility and leaving women no choice but to travel out of state would pose a danger to the health of some women.
“That end result will be that some women take the matter into their own hands, and we know where that ends,” he said during opening arguments.