The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky has voluntarily dropped a challenge to the state’s abortion restrictions.
The Friday dismissal comes about six months after the chapter filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Louisville woman who, at the time, was pregnant and seeking an abortion.
The woman, identified by the pseudonym Mary Poe, later traveled out of state for an abortion, which is illegal in Kentucky in most circumstances.
Amber Duke, the executive director of the ACLU of Kentucky, said in a statement that “decisions about health care are and should remain private, and we will not be providing additional details about the dismissal.
“People have the right to control their own bodies without government interference, and we will never stop fighting to restore abortion access in Kentucky,” Duke said. “We are strategizing our next steps in this fight. In the meantime, our work to address the commonwealth’s maternal mortality rates and lack of widespread paid leave coverage will continue as long as Kentucky remains a forced-birth state.”
Attorney General Russell Coleman celebrated the suit dropping, saying “Kentuckians can be proud that our pro-life values won the day today.”
Poe’s lawsuit was the fourth challenging Kentucky abortion laws since the United States Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that had protected the right to abortion for almost 50 years. The ruling triggered Kentucky’s ban into effect.
The first challenge, filed by abortion providers, advanced in Jefferson Circuit Court but was rejected on appeal.
In December, a woman filed a lawsuit similar to Poe’s challenge, stating she was pregnant and did not wish to be. Within days of filing her lawsuit, though, the pregnancy lost viability and she ended her challenge of the law.
In two cases, Kentucky courts, including the state Supreme Court, have rejected challenges to the ban on grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the action; the U.S. Supreme Court has likewise avoided ruling on the merits of abortion bans.
This story was originally published by the Kentucky Lantern and republished here with permission.
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 10, 2025.