June 24, 2025, marked the third anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that ended the federal legalization of abortion in the U.S. This offers us a moment to reflect on how far the cause for preborn life has come in Kentucky and to consider where the pro-life community is headed.
Since Dobbs, a 2019 trigger law has restricted abortions in Kentucky to “life of the mother” cases. There have been numerous attempts to overturn the trigger law on the basis that abortion is a constitutional right. The first case (brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the EMW Women’s Surgical Center) was the only one that made it to the Kentucky Supreme Court and was dismissed because of improper legal standing.
The merit of the pro-choice argument was never addressed by the court. Rather, the court stated that clinics cannot claim the trigger law harms women unless they represent a specific woman who can demonstrate she has been harmed. Since that ruling, the pro-choice movement has been searching for someone willing to become the “Jane Roe” of Kentucky.
Last November, it looked like they had found such a woman in the anonymously named “Mary Poe,” and the 5th Circuit Court was set to rule on that case this June. Many feared surgical abortion could be legal again by the end of the summer. However, for reasons unknown, Poe abruptly decided to back out of the lawsuit and the ACLU was forced to voluntarily withdraw the case.
Another pro-life Kentucky legislative victory came with the recent passing of House Bill 90. This bill countered the misleading, but prevalent, pro-choice argument that women will be harmed if doctors feel insecure about acting to save women’s lives for fear of punishment due to the trigger law.
Among other things, HB 90 unequivocally protects doctors’ rights for maternal health interventions in complicated pregnancies or miscarriages, provides legal clarity on what constitutes an abortion and expands access to Perinatal Palliative Care, offering a compassionate path for families navigating a complex prenatal diagnosis.
The EMW clinic, the primary abortion provider in Kentucky, has closed, and the property was sold off. It will be paved over by the end of the summer. And, with the federal budget reconciliation bill potentially defunding Planned Parenthood, it is possible we could see the future closure of that Louisville facility.
All of these victories represent an answer to so many prayers whispered by faithful Catholics over the 49 years during which the Roe v. Wade decision was the law of the land.
However, the work is not done. The use of out-of-state, mail-order chemical abortion kits has increased in Kentucky, undeterred by the proven danger they pose to women’s health. Additionally, many women travel to the 3 states bordering Kentucky where abortion is legal. If estimates are correct, there are more Kentucky citizens who received an abortion last year than before Dobbs.
This disturbing fact reminds us that without an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution protecting preborn life, the pro-life community must remain politically proactive. We must also increase support for programs such as Walking with Moms in Need and organizations like Little Way Pregnancy Resource Center and Catholic Charities, which offer legitimate alternatives for women in crisis pregnancies.
Even more urgently, however, we must continue to shift our focus toward educating the hearts and minds of our community.
For 49 years, Roe taught the public that abortion is necessary for sexual liberation. We must increase our effectiveness in educating the public not only about the health risks of abortion, but, more pressingly, on a God-centered approach to human sexuality and the intrinsic dignity of all human life. This is especially true regarding our children, who are targeted at increasingly younger ages by the abortion industry via social media. This is now the true battlefront if we want to cultivate a truly pro-life culture.
Stuart Hamilton is the pro-life event coordinator for the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Family and Life Ministries.
