DerekOfTheDykes
Member
I know that the state of Kentucky doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation. We have, for example, two of the most intensely unpopular US senators out of the hundred. Our governor, Matt Bevin, is essentially Trump in a bottle but elected a year earlier. We have the coveted unofficial award for "Union-allied state that most wishes it had instead fought for the losing side of the civil war". And we've tricked most of you into eating terrible fried chicken at least once.
Well you may soon be able to add a new point to that list: we're gunning to be the only state in the country with zero abortion clinics, and that decision could be made this week.
Source
There's more at the link, but I felt like those selections about covered it.
Now, you may be thinking that this situation sounds eerily familiar, and you'd be right. Not long ago, TRAP (Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers) laws swept through the nation, with half of all states attempting to cut down on abortion clinics with absurdly specific and impossible to meet guidelines. In 2015 the Supreme Court even ruled a Texas TRAP law with cartoonishly strict standards unconstitutional.
You might be inclined to believe that Kentucky will follow the same path. However, sad as it is to say, two years ago was a VERY DIFFERENT TIME, and the situations are not entirely analogous. We've already seen the only other abortion clinic in the state (a Planned Parenthood clinic also in the liberal oasis of Louisville) successfully closed down earlier this year via the same methods. So if a federal court sides with the state and shuts down the EMW clinic, Kentucky would become the only state in the nation without any abortion service providers (even if only temporarily).
The outcome of this trial will not only be important in its own right, but regardless of the outcome could see itself in front of the Supreme Court once again... and given the differing methods between Kentucky and Texas, there's no guarantee we'll see the same outcome.
Well you may soon be able to add a new point to that list: we're gunning to be the only state in the country with zero abortion clinics, and that decision could be made this week.
Source
There's more at the link, but I felt like those selections about covered it.
Now, you may be thinking that this situation sounds eerily familiar, and you'd be right. Not long ago, TRAP (Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers) laws swept through the nation, with half of all states attempting to cut down on abortion clinics with absurdly specific and impossible to meet guidelines. In 2015 the Supreme Court even ruled a Texas TRAP law with cartoonishly strict standards unconstitutional.
You might be inclined to believe that Kentucky will follow the same path. However, sad as it is to say, two years ago was a VERY DIFFERENT TIME, and the situations are not entirely analogous. We've already seen the only other abortion clinic in the state (a Planned Parenthood clinic also in the liberal oasis of Louisville) successfully closed down earlier this year via the same methods. So if a federal court sides with the state and shuts down the EMW clinic, Kentucky would become the only state in the nation without any abortion service providers (even if only temporarily).
The outcome of this trial will not only be important in its own right, but regardless of the outcome could see itself in front of the Supreme Court once again... and given the differing methods between Kentucky and Texas, there's no guarantee we'll see the same outcome.
