Crowell & Moring Achieves Victory in Reproductive Rights Litigation in Kentucky

Washington, D.C. – April 25, 2022: Last week, a federal judge temporarily blocked Kentucky officials from enforcing a new law that effectively bans abortions in the state from taking effect. A Crowell & Moring legal team represented Planned Parenthood. 

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings in Louisville issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday blocking the law, H.B. 3. The ruling was issued one week after Planned Parenthood requested emergency relief on the grounds that the law is unconstitutional. 

Planned Parenthood argued that H.B. 3, Kentucky’s recently enacted abortion law, was an effective ban on all abortion throughout the state because it created unnecessary abortion requirements while simultaneously making those requirements impossible to comply with, given the immediate effective date of the law. The law would have forced Planned Parenthood, one of two abortion providers in Kentucky, to stop offering abortion services for fear of penalties for non-compliance with the new law, including potential felony charges.

The ruling allows health care providers in Kentucky’s only two abortion facilities to continue their services until the court can rule on a pending motion for a preliminary injunction. 

“We're grateful for the temporary restraining order restricting this egregious abortion ban from continuing to block a constitutionally protected right to basic care. This is a win, but it is only the first step. We’re prepared to fight for our patients’ right to basic health in court and to continue doing everything in our power in ensure abortion access is permanently secured in Kentucky,” said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky.

The Planned Parenthood lawsuit was filed on behalf of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, which operates the Louisville Health Center. Crowell’s legal team is led by Miranda Turner and Jennifer Romano, and includes Marlee Santos, Gloria Martinez Trattles, Amy Pauli, Thomas Matthew, Felicia Isaac, Sania Sharma, Jamie Zeevi, and Katie Lee.