Judge blocks Kentucky law banning abortion procedure used after 11 weeks from enforcement

Kentucky's ban on a type of abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation has been blocked from enforcement by a federal judge until a hearing in June.

The law, recently signed by Gov. Matt Bevin, won't be enforced until the court rules on motions filed by the ACLU, set to be heard on June 5. The group filed their lawsuit earlier this week, calling the procedure "safe and medically proven."

"This brings immediate relief to women across Kentucky who have had their appointments cancelled and care delayed if not pushed back entirely out of reach," Andrew Beck, senior staff attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said of the joint consent order dated Thursday.

"In the meantime, we'll continue to fight this law and look forward to seeing the state in court," Beck wrote.

Related: ACLU sues Kentucky over new law banning type of abortion procedure used after 11 weeks

The dilation and evacuation, or D&E, procedure is generally performed after 11 weeks of pregnancy and accounted for 537 of about 3,300 abortions performed in Kentucky in 2016, according to state statistics.

It involves dilating the cervix and removing the fetus using suction and surgical tools. A fetus is about 2 inches long and weighs almost a third of an ounce at 11 weeks, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The new Kentucky law that was at least temporarily blocked bans the procedure except in cases of medical emergency. It was signed by Bevin on Tuesday and took immediate effect.

A spokeswoman for Bevin, Elizabeth Kuhn, said Wednesday that the lawsuit, while not surprising, was disturbing.

"Kentucky's elected representatives voted overwhelmingly this session to safeguard unborn children against the gruesome practice of live dismemberment abortion," she wrote in an email. "Few issues should be as commonsense as protecting the most vulnerable among us from the horrific act of being torn from limb to limb while still alive."

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Two states — West Virginia and Mississippi — have bans on D&E abortion procedures that are currently in effect. Others have had their laws temporarily halted pending a final court decision or permanently stopped by court order, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

It's one of 401 abortion restrictions that state lawmakers across the country have enacted since 2011, the ACLU said.

"Kentucky politicians have already shut down all but one abortion clinic in our state," said Michael Aldridge, executive director of the ACLU of Kentucky. "Now they want to invade the exam room and stop doctors from providing safe, quality care. It's shameless, insulting, and dangerous."

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/darcyc.