Kentucky has one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country

Kentucky is amidst one of our times’ greatest public health and legal crises. The suffering and hurt that abortion bans have caused are immeasurable — causing health and economic insecurity. After years of providing abortion care, we know…many stories firsthand.

In an affront to human decency, empathy, and personal liberty, the state legislature and the Kentucky Supreme Court failed even to include exceptions for rape, incest, lethal fetal anomalies, cancer patients, and common pregnancy complications such as miscarriage — the most basic of healthcare considerations.

Not only are women forced to travel hundreds of miles out of state to receive abortion care. But under abortion bans like Kentucky’s, some doctors are unable to provide care for women who experience common pregnancy complications such as miscarriage, due to fear of arrest and criminal charges. So even more women are forced to travel out of state for critical care or delay treatment until their lives are at immediate risk.

For 43 years, EMW Women’s Surgical Center provided vital healthcare & medical training until Kentucky’s trigger laws immediately banned abortion following the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

The founders of EMW and of the Kentucky Reproductive Freedom Fund have long been active in legal and advocacy efforts, challenging restrictive legislation and defending women’s reproductive rights both as plaintiffs in the courtroom and in the media, including the post Roe case at the Kentucky Supreme Court and a 2022 case at the United States Supreme Court.

Despite all the challenges and harassment from governors, attorney generals, Kentucky politicians and anti-abortion protesters, we remain steadfast standing on the side of public health, medical facts and human rights.

We haven’t lost focus on the people we are fighting for.

We remain committed to our community and are working every day to:

• Restore abortion access and Kentuckians’ rights to make healthcare decisions — without government interference
• Educate Kentuckians about the facts of abortion care
• Provide a platform for healthcare professionals to highlight the devastating harms to public health. read more

The bans place patients’ health in danger, restrict physicians’ ability to provide the highest standard of care and drive medical professionals’ away from practicing in Kentucky. read more

The CONSEQUENCES are clear: Doctors, nurses, and medical students are unwilling to live and work in a state whose government puts them and their patients at risk. 

Donate to Kentucky Reproductive Freedom Fund (KYRFF)

We trust each person to make decisions about their health, bodies, and futures. EMW and the Kentucky Reproductive Freedom Fund continue to persevere and remain committed to ensuring women regain the rights they deserve- without government interference.

MEDICAL DECISIONS MUST BE RETURNED TO DOCTORS AND PATIENTS — learn more Our health and how we create our families are private decisions.
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Kentucky passed a ballot initiative to PROTECT abortion rights.

Voters in Kentucky and across the nation have continued to affirm abortion access in their state, defeating ballot measures to ban abortion.

In 2022, Kentuckians decisively defeated a constitutional amendment to ban abortion. Yet state lawmakers and the Kentucky Supreme Court continue to ignore the people’s will. Kentucky politicians continue to force their fringe beliefs on all of us, have no interest in what voters want and spread medical misinformation.

Kentucky remains one of 24 states that does not allow citizen-led ballot initiatives, and Kentucky lawmakers continue to make a concerted effort to limit citizens’ power.