Kentucky AG sues over abortion law blocked by federal court
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's Republican attorney general went to court Tuesday claiming the Democratic governor's administration missed a deadline to set up a regulatory process for a sweeping new abortion law currently blocked by a federal court order.
In a maneuver loaded with political and legal implications, Attorney General Daniel Cameron said in his lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's administration that state officials are still obligated to craft regulations and create forms associated with the new law's restrictions, even though a federal judge temporarily halted its enforcement while the case is litigated. Cameron, who has filed paperwork to run for governor himself next year, said that order didn't relieve the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services from fulfilling its “statutory responsibilities.”
Beshear's office deflected questions about the lawsuit to the cabinet, whose secretary was named as the defendant. Cabinet spokeswoman Susan Dunlap responded that Cameron's lawsuit was a "baseless and blatant political stunt." The back-and-forth adds more fuel to the intensifying political rivalry between Cameron and Beshear, who could face off in the 2023 governor's race if they win their parties' respective nominations. It also sends another loud signal that Republicans will try to make abortion a key issue of the campaign.
The state's GOP-dominated legislature this spring overrode Beshear's veto to pass the new measure. It would ban abortions after 15 weeks and set up new oversight of medication abortion.
Abortions in Kentucky halted for several days when the two remaining abortion clinics said they couldn't immediately comply with new law because its regulations had not been created. The clinics, both in Louisville, resumed abortions after the law was halted temporarily.
Cameron's...
