Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
ACLU Sues Kentucky Over Ban On Common Abortion Method Used After 11 Weeks
The Associated Press: Federal Lawsuit Seeks To Block Kentucky's New Abortion Law
Kentucky lawmakers and the American Civil Liberties Union are again locked in battle over abortion rights. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday shortly after Republican Gov. Matt Bevin signed a new law banning a common second-trimester abortion procedure known as "dilation and evacuation. "Kentucky's GOP-led legislature passed the bill overwhelmingly. It is the second abortion law in as many years to draw a court challenge. (Schreiner, 4/11)
The Hill: ACLU Sues Kentucky Over Ban On Common Abortion Method After 11 Weeks
“We’re suing Kentucky yet again — this time to stop state politicians from banning a safe abortion method,” said Talcott Camp, deputy director with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “This law disregards a woman’s health and decisions in favor of a narrow ideological agenda.” Dilation and evacuation involves dilating the cervix and removing the fetus using suction and surgical tools. (Hellmann, 4/11)
The Courier-Journal: ACLU Sues Over Kentucky Abortion Law Banning D&E
The D&E procedure is generally performed after 11 weeks of pregnancy and accounted for 537 of about 3,300 abortions performed in Kentucky in 2016, according to state statistics. It involves dilating the cervix and removing the fetus using suction and surgical tools. A fetus is about 2 inches long and weighs almost a third of an ounce at 11 weeks, according to the Mayo Clinic. (Costello, 4/11)
And in other news —
The Hill: Arizona House Passes Bill Requiring Women To Provide Reason For Abortion
The Arizona state House of Representatives passed a bill requiring women to provide the reason why they’re obtaining an abortion. The bill, passed on party lines Monday, would require women to fill out an extensive questionnaire about their reasons to obtain the abortion, HuffPost reported. (Thomsen, 4/11)
