Last Kentucky abortion clinic files lawsuit to stay open

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Kentucky’s only remaining clinic that performs abortions is challenging a state order that would shut it down.

The complaint was filed Wednesday in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of the EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville.

Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services says the clinic isn’t meeting compliance rules and will have its license revoked if it doesn’t come into compliance by Monday. The compliance concerns the clinic’s agreements with a local hospital and ambulance service.

In a release, the ACLU called the enforcement action “an attempt to ban abortion in Kentucky.” Lawyers want a judge to declare the state’s requirements unconstitutional.

Other states have imposed similar requirements, which supporters call necessary health measures and opponents say aim to reduce women’s access to abortion.