A pregnant woman in Kentucky who is suing the Republican state over its restrictive abortion laws has learned that her embryo is no longer viable, her lawyers said on Tuesday.
The woman, who is referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, was about eight weeks pregnant when she filed the lawsuit against Kentucky in a state court in Louisville.
Brigitte Amiri, the deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project and lawyer for Jane Doe, released a statement with the update and encouraged other Kentuckians to join the case.
“Jane Doe sought an abortion in Kentucky, and when she could not get one, she bravely came forward to challenge the state’s abortion ban,” Amiri said in the statement, shared with the Guardian.
“Countless Kentuckians face the same harm every day as the result of the abortion ban.”
A representative from ACLU was not able to confirm how the loss of the embryo will affect the case.
In a press release on Friday, Doe said she was suing the state as she wants to have an abortion in Kentucky, but is legally not able to do so. Doe is seeking class-action status for the suit in order to include other Kentuckians who are pregnant and want to access an abortion, either currently or in the future.
“This is my decision – not the government’s or any other person’s,” Doe said in the Friday news release issued by the ACLU. “I am bringing this lawsuit because I firmly believe that everyone should have the ability to make their own decisions about their pregnancies.”
Since the overturning of Roe v Wade last June, Kentucky has had in effect two laws severely restricting abortions. One law bans nearly all abortions, and another six-week ban bars abortions after an embryo’s cardiac activity is detected.
In February, the state’s supreme court refused to halt either law, essentially leaving abortions banned in the Bluegrass state.
The latest update comes after a woman in Texas fled the state to have an abortion after the Texas supreme court paused a previous court ruling that allowed the woman to obtain the emergency procedure.
Kate Cox, a mother of two from Texas, filed a lawsuit to obtain an immediate abortion after her fetus had been diagnosed with a terminal condition. Cox learned that carrying her pregnancy to term could impact Cox’s health and future pregnancies.
“It is not a matter of if I will have to say goodbye to my baby, but when,” Cox said in a statement when the suit was filed.
“I do not want to continue the pain and suffering that has plagued this pregnancy. I do not want to put my body through the risks of continuing this pregnancy. I do not want my baby to arrive in this world only to watch her suffer. I need to end my pregnancy now so that I have the best chance for my health and a future pregnancy,” she said.
While a Texas court had initially granted Cox’s request, the state attorney general, Ken Paxton, threatened to prosecute anyone who helped with the procedure. The higher court ultimately overturned the lower court decision which would have allowed the abortion.
