Planned Parenthood seeks to join federal challenge to Kentucky abortion law

Accusing Gov. Matt Bevin's administration of seeking to block abortions "by any means necessary," Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky is seeking to join a federal lawsuit filed by Louisville's last abortion clinic, which is facing a potential loss of its state license.

The motion, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Louisville, follows more than a year of unsuccessful efforts by Planned Parenthood to get a state license to provide abortions at its clinic in downtown Louisville.

Planned Parenthood is asking a federal judge to allow it to join the lawsuit filed in March by EMW Women's Surgical Center, which alleged the Bevin administration was trying to close it by revoking its license, a move it said would have a "devastating impact on women."

Doug Hogan, a spokesman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said the transfer agreements, enacted in 1998, are necessary, ensuring women have the proper lifesaving procedures in place in the event of an emergency.

He said, "The Bevin administration is working diligently to protect the health, welfare and lives of women in Kentucky."

In enforcement actions against both EMW and Planned Parenthood, the state cited alleged deficiencies in "transfer agreements" that state law requires the clinic to have with a hospital and ambulance service in the event of an emergency. 

EMW and Planned Parenthood have claimed they have proper agreements as required by the law, but both are challenging the need for the agreements, arguing they are medically unnecessary.

Planned Parenthood's motion said federal law requires hospitals to take any patient in the event of an emergency and Louisville Emergency Medical services is available to transport patients though the need is unlikely.

"Legal abortion is an extremely safe medical procedure; it is one of the safest procedures in contemporary medical practice," it said.

The Planned Parenthood motion argues that the transfer agreements are being used by Bevin's administration to "obstruct" abortion clinics from obtaining a license. EMW makes a similar claim in its pending lawsuit against the state.

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The Bevin administration has refused to grant a license to Planned Parenthood, arguing its agreements with hospitals in Lexington and Southern Indiana and an ambulance service are inadequate.

A state official had threatened to close EMW earlier this year, saying its transfer agreements were inadequate, but suspended efforts after U.S. District Judge Greg Stivers blocked the state from doing so until the dispute can be heard at a trial in September.

Planned Parenthood's motion argues it has met all requirements for a license and that the state enforcement actions against Planned Parenthood and EMW are part "of a larger effort to make abortion unavailable in the commonwealth."

The state denied Planned Parenthood's license "with the unconstitutional purpose of shuttering all abortion facilities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky," the lawsuit says.

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The state has denied the allegations and said such agreements are necessary to protect the health and safety of patients.

Planned Parenthood's motion marks the latest round in a battle with abortion providers and the administration of Bevin, who has called himself an "unapologetically pro-life individual."

Planned Parenthood briefly offered abortions at its clinic in late December 2015 and early January while it was in the process of obtaining a state license but agreed to stop after the Bevin administration sued it over alleged violations. A part-time abortion clinic EMW operated in Lexington closed earlier this year amid a dispute with the Bevin administration over its license application, leaving EMW's Louisville clinic as the state's sole abortion provider.

Contact reporter Deborah Yetter at 502-582-4228 or at dyetter@courier-journal.com.