Commonwealth Policy Center

The US Supreme Court handed Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron a victory in his plea to defend HB 454, which was an important law passed in 2018 restricting live dismemberment abortions. The Court’s 8-1 ruling sends a clear message that General Cameron and his office are legally within their bounds to defend abortion laws in court—laws, by the way, Gov. Beshear has refused to defend both as governor and as attorney general. House Bill 454 banned D&E abortions on a live fetus while still in the womb. The law does not ban the D&E procedure but ensures the humane treatment of an unborn child. This is also an important ruling because it upholds the sovereignty of Kentucky to defend its own laws in court.