Quote:A pregnant woman filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to restore the right to an abortion in Kentucky in the latest challenge to the state’s near-total ban on the procedure.

The suit, filed in state court in Louisville, claims that Kentucky laws blocking abortions violate the plaintiff’s constitutional rights to privacy and self-determination. It asks that both state laws be struck down by a judge in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

The woman, a state resident identified by the pseudonym Mary Poe to protect her privacy, is about seven weeks pregnant, the suit said. She wants to terminate her pregnancy but cannot legally do so in Kentucky, it said.

The decision about whether to become or remain pregnant is among the “most personal and consequential decisions a person will make in their lifetime,” the suit said. Her legal team includes attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Quote:The suit is seeking class-action status to include others who are or will become pregnant and want the right to have an abortion. It is challenging Kentucky’s near-total trigger law ban and a separate six-week ban, both of which were passed by Republican legislative majorities.

The trigger law took effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 and bans abortions except to save the life of the patient or to prevent disabling injury. It does not include exceptions for cases of rape or incest.