In fact, Diana Maldonado, president of Kentucky Right to Life and a board member of Right to Life of Central Kentucky, says, "We have never been discouraged since the fight started many, many decades ago."
"We always are hopeful, and we will continue to push forward as we have done over the years incrementally, step by step, making progress in states like Kentucky and other states throughout the nation saving as many lives as we can," she continues.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry granted an injunction Friday, saying there is a "substantial likelihood" that Kentucky's so-called trigger law violates the rights to privacy and self-determination protected by the Kentucky Constitution. Perry issued a restraining order in June blocking the ban. His ruling means that of the 13 states with trigger bans, five are in effect.
"We fully expected it," Maldonado relays. "Judge Perry is an activist judge, and he is ruling in light of his own political leanings. He is effectively a de facto legislature, taking the place of the Kentucky General Assembly."
That, she points out, is not his job. Judges are meant to enforce and uphold the laws the lawmakers pass.
The state's trigger law, the Human Life Protection Act, was passed in 2019 by an overwhelming majority of the Kentucky Assembly and signed into law by Governor Matt Bevin (R). Banning most abortions in the state, it was set to go into effect if/when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The latter happened in June after justices heard arguments in a Mississippi abortion case.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican running for governor, is reportedly disappointed by the ruling and plans to appeal it to the state appeals court.
