An anonymous Kentucky woman who is suing the state over its pro-life law traveled outside of the state to abort her baby.
Earlier this month, Mary Poe sued to overturn Kentucky’s pro-life law which protects most preborn children from induced abortion — direct and intentional killing. In her lawsuit, Poe said that “ending my pregnancy is the best decision for me and my family.” She was reportedly about seven weeks pregnant at the time and said she would suffer “severe harm” if she could not kill her preborn child. She said she felt “frustrated” that she could not have an abortion in Kentucky and “started the difficult process of arranging to get care in another state where it’s legal.”
And that’s what she did.
A court document filed on Wednesday begins, “Please take note that Plaintiff Mary Poe is no longer pregnant.”
The filing continued, “She recently traveled to another state to obtain legal access to the abortion care that she was denied in Kentucky due to the challenged bans.”
She was about eight weeks pregnant at the time of the abortion and called it “an enormous burden on me” to have “to take time off work” and secure “child care.”
According to the Endowment for Human Development, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving health science education and public health, and whose award-winning prenatal development DVD is distributed by National Geographic, at eight weeks gestation (six weeks post-fertilization) the preborn baby’s heart has already been pumping blood for about three weeks. Brain wave activity has also begun as the cerebral hemispheres have appeared and are rapidly growing.
6 weeks from fertilization (8 weeks gestation/LMP)
The most common method of killing preborn children in the first trimester is now the abortion pill, which is composed of two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone blocks the naturally occurring pregnancy hormone progesterone, depriving the baby of nutrients, while misoprostol causes contractions that will expel the baby.
The other option for abortion in the first trimester is a D&C surgical procedure, in which the baby is suctioned out using an intense vacuum. This is the procedure that was exposed in the film The Silent Scream.
The Kentucky pro-life law states:
No person may knowingly:
-
- Administer to, prescribe for, procure for, or sell to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, or other substance with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being; or
- Use or employ any instrument or procedure upon a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being.
However, Kentucky does include an exception for medical emergencies, stating that a doctor would not be in violation of the law if he performed “a medical procedure necessary in reasonable medical judgment to prevent the death or substantial risk of death due to a physical condition, or to prevent the serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ of a pregnant woman. However, the physician shall make reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of the unborn human being in a manner consistent with reasonable medical practice… or Medical treatment provided to the mother by a licensed physician which results in the accidental or unintentional injury or death to the unborn human being.”
Though Poe appears to have already killed her preborn baby, the lawsuit will continue forward because, according to court documents, she “satisfied Kentucky’s constitutional standing requirements at the time of filing, when she was pregnant and seeking abortion care.”
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