FRANKFORT, Ky.  On Monday, Attorney General  Daniel Cameron filed a motion asking a federal district court to overturn its previous ruling and permanently dismiss a challenge to Kentucky’s live dismemberment law, House Bill 454. The motion was filed following a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which directed the district court to reconsider its prior ruling in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

“We’ve fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend Kentucky’s law banning live dismemberment,” said Attorney General Cameron. “We hope that the action we took  is the final step in our fight to reinstate this important law.”

In 2018, the Kentucky General Assembly passed HB 454, and the law was immediately challenged by a Kentucky abortion clinic.  After being sworn into office, Attorney General Cameron defended HB 454 on behalf of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.  But when the [Gov.] Beshear Administration decided to stop defending the law, Attorney General Cameron asked to step in.

The Sixth Circuit refused the Attorney General’s effort, and Attorney General Cameron took his case to the United States Supreme Court.  In March, the Supreme Court ruled he could defend the law.

Following the United States Supreme Court’s decision, Attorney General Cameron filed a petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, asking the court to allow the case to be reheard. The Sixth Circuit agreed and sent the case back to the district court.

Attorney General Cameron’s motion explains that the district court should permanently dismiss the case in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs.

Read more.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 4, 2022) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron today filed a petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit asking the court to rehear a challenge to Kentucky’s law prohibiting live dismemberment abortions (HB 454). The petition was filed following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that Attorney General Cameron can continue to defend HB 454 on behalf of the Commonwealth.

“In an 8-1 decision, the highest court in our land recognized our ability to defend Kentucky’s law banning live dismemberment abortions, and today we took the first step to continue our defense,” said Attorney General Cameron. “We will fight for as long as it takes to ensure this important law is enforced in Kentucky.”

In 2018, the Kentucky General Assembly passed HB 454, and the law was immediately challenged by a Kentucky abortion clinic. After being sworn into office, Attorney General Cameron defended HB 454 in court on behalf of the Beshear Administration. But when the Beshear Administration decided to stop defending the law, Attorney General Cameron asked to step in. The Sixth Circuit refused the Attorney General’s effort, and Attorney General Cameron took his case to the United States Supreme Court. In March, the court ruled that he can defend the law.

Read more. Read the Petition.

The Supreme Court [has] agreed with Kentucky’s Attorney General that he should be allowed to defend “The 2018 Human Rights of the Child Act”.

Kentucky’s H.B. 454 prohibits live dismemberment abortions that “will result in the bodily dismemberment, crushing, or human vivisection of the unborn child” when the unborn child is 11 weeks or older.

“The justices ruled 8-1 in favor of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the top legal officer in the state, in his appeal of a lower court’s rejection of his request to intervene in the litigation,” wrote Andrew Chung. The lone dissenter was Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The issue before the justices was not the constitutionality of the law. The question, rather, was  whether Cameron would be allowed to intervene to defend HB 454.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the 38 page opinion.

Background

[The] EMW Women’s Surgical Center [and the ACLU] immediately challenged Kentucky’s law, passed in 2018. As for Cameron’s request to be allowed to defend HB 454, “It argued that Cameron should not be able to take the case further because the state attorney general’s office previously agreed to be bound by the lower court’s final judgment and then did not pursue an appeal,” according to Chung...

Newly elected Cameron appealed to the 6th Circuit which ruled he waited too long. Cameron then appealed to the Supreme Court. Oral arguments were held in October 2021.

Read more.

For more background, see the KRLA Forum Dismemberment-Law-Appeal category.

Attorney Matt Kuhn, shown center in a gray jacket enjoying the March 1 KRTL Rally, argued the case before SCOTUS.

Promises Made Promises Kept…

Attorney General Cameron vowed from day one to defend the laws of our Commonwealth and he has not wavered in his promise. Over a year ago we stood on the steps of the US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he pledged his commitment — to defend, if necessary, HB 454 -The 2018 Human Rights of the Child Act banning live dismemberment abortions, all the way to the US Supreme Court. Today he kept that promise.

As Kentucky Right to Life Executive Director, it was an honor to stand at the Supreme Court of the United States representing ProLife Kentuckians in support and prayer for General Cameron, Deputy Solicitor Matt Kuhn, and the entire legal team as they defended the “right to intervene” on behalf of Kentucky’s ProLife law that passed by an overwhelming majority of the Members in 2018. I am very proud of my former colleagues, especially the 106 of 138 members who courageously voted to end this particularly gruesome form of abortion that brutally extinguishers the life of an unborn child.

- Addia K. Wuchner, Executive Director, Kentucky Right to Life and former State Representative-Boone Co., Kentucky

See lots more pictures on our Facebook page!

You can read the transcript of the Argument here and listen to the audio here.

Thank you to all who attended the Oct. 6 Press Conference!

Despite some rain, AG Cameron encouraged pro-lifers with his positive message and answered all the questions of the media. See the slide show and full video here!

We are counting down the days! On October 12 Attorney General Cameron and his team will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court for the right to defend Kentucky’s ProLife Law banning live dismemberment abortions.

KRTL’s Executive Director, Addia Wuchner, was the sponsor of The Human Rights of the UnBorn Child Act - banning live dismemberment along with each member of the 2018 Ky General Assembly who cosponsored and worked to pass HB454. We are grateful to AG Cameron and his team for their commitment to defend the laws of Kentucky extending dignity and respect to the unborn child.

For full background on this case see this page. The Law was originally passed during the Bevin administration, and defended by Gov. Bevin’s administrative team of attorneys. When our new governor entered office, it became impossible to defend the case, since his AG determined to drop it. It had been in the court system since the spring of 2018.

An excellent summary of the legislation history is on AG Cameron’s media statement as well.

On Monday, June 14, Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed a brief before the United States Supreme Court in support of his defense of House Bill 454, Kentucky’s law prohibiting live-dismemberment abortions. Read his full statement here.

A year and a half ago the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court heard the arguments for and against HB454. A media event organized by our current executive director raised public awareness about the legal case, how babies are aborted, and AG Cameron’s defense of the Ky law. At that news conference AG Cameron promised to pursue the case to SCOTUS if the Appeal was denied, which it was about this time last year. Learn more here. Following is a statement by Addia Kathryn Wuchner on AG Cameron’s bold stand.

As a former Kentucky state representative and the author and sponsor of ‘HB 454, The Human Rights of the Child Act Banning Live Dismemberment Abortions,’ and as Executive Director of Kentucky Right to Life, we are grateful and stand in full support of Attorney General Daniel Cameron and his unwavering commitment to the defense of life.

In January 2020, outside the US Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, at our joint press conference, AG Cameron publicly affirmed that he would defend human life and appeal the case to the Supreme Court if necessary. Thank you for being a leader of integrity and a man of your word!

HB 454 banning live dismemberment abortions in Kentucky reflects the judgment of the citizens of our Commonwealth that certain abortion practices are so barbaric and gruesome, they warrant exclusion from a civilized society.

Without a doubt, ultrasound affirms that “by the end of 10 weeks, the unborn child has fingers, hands, arms, toes, feet, legs, eyelids, and ears” — confirming that the unborn child is in fact a human being, and affirms our work in defending the ‘human rights’ of the child.

When we look at all the human rights injustices that deform our society and culture today, we are paralyzed in moving forward to address any of them, until we resolve the greatest human rights issues of our day: the basic right to life and the human rights of every child.

Further notes

• Many people do not know that Dilation and Evacuation Abortion is a surgical procedure during which the limbs and torso of a live, in-utero fetus are torn off by the abortionist's forceps, and the skull crushed. The fetus feels pain as early as 12 weeks, and the D&E abortion is performed beginning at 13 weeks.
• In 2018 when the ‘Dismemberment Abortion’ Legislation passed, science had ascertained that pain was felt by a fetus as early as 20 weeks. In 2017 the “Pain Capable” Law was passed in Ky, limiting the procedure of abortion to 20 weeks. The 12-week threshold was reported by the American College of Pediatricians earlier this year.
• Did you know that Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers at times facilitate a D&E abortion to deliver baby parts for use by research labs? This controversy was initially publicized by ABC News in 2000 and then further exposed by David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress in a series of videos starting in mid-2015, and his revelations landed him in a legal quagmire that continues today.
• The practice of using baby body parts in research, funded by taxpayers and the federal government, was restricted by former President Trump. His policy was repealed this past April, as reported on the KRLA Timeline.
• Read more about Ky’s Dismemberment Law on this website here and here.

A quick review of bogged-down cases:

1. On Oct. 30, AG Daniel Cameron requested SCOTUS to review the Dismemberment Abortion law which the Appeals Court overturned last June. This law passed the Ky legislature in April of 2018. In Nebraska, a law prohibiting D&E abortion on live unborn babies went into effect last month. This means that 14 states have passed such legislation, but only four have enacted their law: Nebraska, Miss., W. Va. and Ohio. Why not Ky? Think positive and pray.
2. On Nov. 20, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the EMW, along with attorneys from Calif., Washington D.C., New York, and Louisville (total 13 attorneys), filed a document in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to request an En Banc hearing of the Transfer Agreements case which the Appeals Court panel upheld on October 16. The TA law passed the Ky Legislature in July of 1998. It had been ignored before Bevin took office.
3. In the spring of 2019 Ky’s Heartbeat and No Discrimination laws passed and were quickly challenged and combined in a legal maneuver by the ACLU. Last spring Western District Judge Hale stated he would wait to hear the Appeals Court verdict on an Ohio law, Preterm-Cleveland v. Himes, which would ban abortion on Down Syndrome babies, before deciding the case. However, a Tenn. law similar to Ky’s Heartbeat/No Discrimination laws was partially upheld by the Appeals Court on Nov. 20, to ban abortions based on Down Syndrome or race. This action could affect Judge Hale’s decision. The Appeals panel did not uphold the entire Tenn. law. Ky AG Daniel Cameron led an 18-state coalition in an Amicus brief, asking the Appeals Court to uphold the entire law.

Some existing laws are also in a state of suspension. Ky’s law to require that women be made aware of the Abortion Pill Reversal method by her abortion doctor, which passed in spring 2019, is not currently enforced since a woman can order abortion pills online with only an online medical consultation. See Ruling here. It’s likely that not many women know this, or abortion statistics for the EMW would be lower. This national ruling also overrides, we assume, Ky’s law against TelMed, WebCam or “telehealth” abortions.

Ky law also requires that a physician certify that an abortion is necessary, and this doctor must also describe the basis for his/her best clinical judgment. Numerous articles state that most abortions are done for social or economic reasons.

Though ‘clinical’ once referred to medical treatment, it now only means that a person has been observed in a clinic setting.

Laws may be suspended when their criteria are blurred or prevented by societal change. Such change engenders legal challenges to good laws.

Let’s continue to insist on the rule of law and work hard for pro-life goals.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (October 30, 2020) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron today filed a petition for a writ of certiorari before the United States Supreme Court asking the court to hear the ACLU’s challenge to Kentucky’s live dismemberment abortion law (House Bill 454). The law, passed by the General Assembly in 2018, prohibits abortionists from performing gruesome Dilation and Evacuation procedures (D&E) on a living unborn child.

Read more.

AG Cameron Appeals Dismemberment Case to SCOTUS!

Read more.

Petition for En Banc hearing denied by 6th Circuit Court

In mid-July the Appeals Court rejected AG Cameron’s petition for a rehearing by the full bench. With so many other issues, there has been no further action taken on this case. We continue to watch for a new development.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron today continued his unwavering defense of the unborn by asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to rehear a case involving a Kentucky law that bans live-dismemberment abortions. Attorney General Cameron tendered a Petition for Rehearing asking the case to be reheard en banc by all 16 judges of the court.

House Bill 454, known as the Human Rights of Unborn Children Act, was passed in 2018 by the General Assembly and requires abortion providers to ensure that an unborn child dies before beginning the gruesome dismemberment abortion procedure. The bill does not ban the controversial abortion procedure, but, instead, requires that the procedure is performed in a more humane manner. The bill was passed with bipartisan support and was immediately challenged by the ACLU on behalf of EMW Women’s Surgical Center.

“We’re exhausting every possible option to ensure that this law continues to be defended and is ultimately enforced,” said Attorney General Cameron. “The law extends compassion and dignity to the unborn by ensuring they are not subjected to the horror and pain of the dismemberment process while still alive. We would never allow the dismemberment of any other living being, and we are going to continue fighting, all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, so that it can’t happen to unborn children (KRLA emphasis).”

Read more.

Dismemberment Abortion is what it is. The arms, legs and torso are torn off and the head is crushed to abort the living child. Yet, as destructive as this IS, somehow the body parts of pre-born babies are harvested for medical research, as was exposed by the Center for Medical Progress beginning in 2015.

The Courier-Journal did not have an extensive article celebrating the June 2nd Court of Appeals decision which said Kentucky’s passage of HB454 was unconstitutional. As well, the brief article was never linked from the home page. An excellent article was posted in the National Right to Life News.

Our pro-life General Assembly passed HB454 in 2018 to make D&E abortion illegal. It was immediately challenged by the EMW and ACLU. When District Judge McKinley handed the victory to the EMW, Gov. Bevin appealed the case.

At the Appeals Court hearing last January in Cincinnati, few abortion supporters showed up—as shown in the media conference photo (all press, ACLU attorney, no supporters), but pro-lifers packed the courtroom and the media event. (See photo.)

The law to stop Dismemberment Abortion is not pro-life legislation; it is to uphold human dignity and to address fetal pain. AG Daniel Cameron noted in the press conference following the hearing that Kentucky would not permit this gruesome and inhumane medical procedure to be practiced on an animal— Why do we accept it for the human infant? He also promised to pursue the case to the Supreme Court if needed. We will post again as news is made.

Other states have successfully passed such legislation. The NRLC followed up with a statement on June 5th.

The already well-argued case to end Dismemberment Abortion was presented in a nutshell this morning at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Deputy Solicitor General for the Commonwealth, Matt Kuhn (r), represented Kentucky’s interest, supported by Attorney General Daniel Cameron (l) and Chad Meredith, Solicitor General.

Attorney Kuhn explained to the panel of judges why the trial to defend the Law (in November 2018) against the EMW/ACLU challenge was improperly decided. Numerous legal precedents were cited. Many who are reading this article would find the audio of the hearing very interesting. It is accessible on the Appellate Court website here.

The courtroom was packed, with nearly all the seats taken by pro-lifers. The judges were Gilbert Merritt, appointed by President Jimmy Carter; John Bush, who also served on the hearing for the Ultrasound Law (a pro-life victory!), appointed by President Donald Trump; and Eric Clay, a Bill Clinton appointee. The timeframe for their decision is unknown at this time.

Following the hearing, a media conference organized by former Rep. Addia Wuchner was held just outside the Courthouse. She championed the Dismemberment Law during her final term in the House after representing District 66 since 2005. Ms. Wuchner now heads ProLife Woman, a Women’s Health Advocacy Media Group.

AG Daniel Cameron, Sen. Whitney Westerfield and Attorney Kuhn addressed the media and answered questions. AG Cameron assured the crowd that Kentucky would pursue the case to the Supreme Court if needed. Reference was made to a procedure during which a baby’s beating heart was expelled during the D&E abortion. He pointed out that the people of Kentucky would not permit this gruesome and inhumane medical procedure to be practiced on an animal. Why do we accept it for the human infant?

All the speakers agreed that Dismemberment Abortion is a sad reality but if it must be offered as part of the Roe v. Wade legal rules, then assuring the painless demise of the fetus before its limbs are torn off and its head is crushed— is essential.

AN ASIDE: The arguments insisting that it is the safest way for the woman never take the child into consideration. This hearing was timely in that scientists have recently confirmed that a fetus feels pain as early as 12 weeks.

EMW was represented by Atty. Andrew Beck, who is listed as an employee of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation which is located in New York City. No supporters of Dismemberment Abortion were in view when the media interviewed him.

For more photos, visit KRLA’s Facebook page. For background on this topic, see all previous Forum posts and the Laws Under Fire webpage.

The Dismemberment Abortion bill that became law in spring 2018 is still in the court system. After being overturned at the District Court in Louisville last May, it was appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court. In mid-September, a flurry of Amicus Briefs were filed on behalf of EMW.

During the trial in Louisville, Defense (Ky) had argued that three methods could be used for humane fetal demise in place of tearing limbs off babies while they are alive. Plaintiffs vigorously argued that none of those— the KCl injection, Digoxin injection, nor the umbilical cord transection— was suitable, for numerous reasons. The Amicus briefs uphold the court arguments.

The first Amicus was submitted by:

• THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNECOLOGISTS (ACOG)
• THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AMA)
• THE NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PEDIATRIC AND ADOLESCENT GYNECOLOGY (NASPG)
• THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS IN WOMEN’S HEALTH (NPWH)
• THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF NURSE-MIDWIVES (ACNM) and
• THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNECOLOGISTS (ACOOG)

Whew! That’s a lot of friends. If only these associations were friends of humankind, born and unborn.

They argue that the Commonwealth’s proposed demise methods are invasive, additionally risky, medically unnecessary, experimental, and unreliable, among other points. All of these were refuted by the Defense during the trial.

The second Amicus was submitted by numerous states, including:

• NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, CONNECTICUT, DELAWARE, HAWAI‘I, ILLINOIS, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, NEVADA, NEW MEXICO, OREGON, PENNSYLVANIA, VERMONT, VIRGINIA, and WASHINGTON, and the DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

This brief has a number of undue burden reasons.

The third was submitted by the

• SOCIETY FOR MATERNAL-FETAL MEDICINE

Sounds so motherly.

Its main point is that the Potassium Chloride (KCl) injection method is not feasible in an abortion clinic. This was also refuted during the trial.

For background on this case, see here. An Amicus was filed by 16 states on behalf of Kentucky last July.

Kentucky’s Dismemberment Abortion law that passed during the spring 2018 legislative session was blocked by the ACLU on behalf of the EMW Clinic. Background on case is here.

A bench trial to litigate the suit took place last November, and the May 2019 verdict was favorable to the EMW. The Bevin Administration appealed the case to the Federal Appeals Court in Cincinnati.

During the November trial in Louisville, the ACLU attorneys argued that Dilation & Evacuation (dismemberment) surgical abortion was the safest method. The state argued that digoxin, a drug that can be injected into the fetus to humanely end its life without pain, is also the safest method for the woman. D&E abortion requires many passes into the woman’s birth canal to grab and tear apart the limbs and torso of the live fetus.

Last week during the ‘historic criminal preliminary hearing’ for David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt regarding their investigative work that led to publishing YouTube videos to expose the sale of baby body parts, one doctor has testified that “didged babies delivered after days lying dead in the womb weren’t suitable [for baby parts].” This obviously can lead to testimony that procedures were altered to gain parts.

As well, the CEO of StemExpress admitted in court Thursday that her biotech company supplies beating fetal hearts and intact fetal heads to medical researchers. She had admitted at the preliminary hearing that the baby’s head could be procured attached to the baby’s body or “could be torn away.”

The videos that expose StemExpress are still on the CMP YouTube channel (one is below). Links to all the PP videos that had been removed for a time are provided in this LifeNews article.

The Supreme Court rejected Alabama’s Appeal to revisit D&E abortion and ban it, but if Kentucky’s current appeal at the Sixth Circuit Court fails, could SCOTUS view this issue in a new light?

An excellent Friend of the Court brief has been filed by 16 states in support of Kentucky’s Appeal to reverse the District Court decision not to uphold HB454, our law banning Dismemberment Abortion.

Brief background:

HB 454, which bans the brutal and grotesque practice of live dismemberment abortions, was passed by the 2018 Kentucky General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support from legislators and signed into law by Gov. Bevin. The ACLU and a Louisville abortion clinic quickly challenged the law, and a U.S. District judge in May ruled in their favor.

The attorneys general of Ohio, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia argue that the Sixth Circuit should reverse the District Court's erroneous opinion.

In their brief, the attorneys general assert that the District judge's ruling “misapplied the law in three ways”: 1) HB 454 does not place an undue burden on women seeking an abortion, 2) it does not place an undue burden on abortion providers, and 3) it should not have been struck down in its entirety by the lower court. (emphasis added)

Read more.

Read the Amicus Brief here.

Recently, SCOTUS declined to review the Alabama Dismemberment Abortion case. Judge Clarence Thomas joined the progressives on this vote and noted in his concurrence: “Although this case does not present the opportunity to address our demonstrably erroneous ‘undue burden’ standard, we cannot continue blinking at the reality of what this Court has wrought.“

Judge Thomas pointed out that in previous rulings SCOTUS has given credence to abortion providers’ claims that other methods of abortion are too risky. Court precedents are roadblocks. The Alabama case did not present a way to re-argue the precedent.

Though the Alabama and Kentucky cases are very similar, the Amicus Brief on behalf of Kentucky’s law highlights the ‘undue burden’ legal hitch— Attention Judge Thomas!

KRLA staff and friends sat through the HB454 trial proceedings. We know that our state attorneys presented excellent arguments for why other methods of abortion are in fact LESS risky than D&E, since D&E requires MANY passes into the woman’s birth passage to grab and tear apart the baby’s limbs, whereas a single injection of digoxin will end the life of the fetus. No need to insert steel instruments into the woman’s body numerous times, risking injury to the uterus and more.

Somehow there was no time allotted for Kentucky’s expert witness who came to explain the needle guide that makes the digoxin injection simple and very safe. Our lead attorney Stephen Pitt strenuously objected. The Judge agreed his written testimony could be included in the summary filed following the trial.

So, should Kentucky’s HB454 case need to be appealed to SCOTUS, we believe that Judge Thomas and others may see a reason to revisit the ‘undue burden’ issue. Perhaps the confusion of the numerous suits and rulings have numbed all of us to the real issue at hand.

For any who may want to review the pro-life legislation that SCOTUS has considered since the appointment of Kavanaugh, see here.

An article in the NRLC online news last Thursday (7/18/19) stated that Indiana’s Attorney General will take a different route to salvage their state law banning Dismemberment Abortion.

Three days before the law would have taken effect, Indiana Southern District Sr. Judge Sarah Evans Barker issued an injunction against it on legal order of the ACLU. The ACLU is representing a doctor who performs D&E abortions at two hospitals in Indianapolis.

In a strategic decision, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill announced Wednesday that rather than appeal a federal judge’s order blocking the state’s ban on dismemberment abortion from going into effect, his office will proceed to summary judgment.

Indiana’s AG is contending that there are no issues of material facts, and applicable law requires that the legislation be upheld. He is asking, Why can’t this law be upheld? What is illegal about it? He wants the injunction removed.

We’re watching to see what happens next!

In the course of Indiana’s committee hearings about the law a Ft. Wayne physician testified that he never heard of a legitimate medical reason to do the procedure (D&E). He said that Hoosiers would be outraged if something similar was done on animals.