Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear said his office is actively defending a new abortion rule recently signed into law by Governor Matt Bevin. The law requires doctors to show women seeking an abortion pictures of an ultrasound, and describe the images to the patient.
Governor Bevin has accused Beshear of breaking his promise to defend the ultrasound law.
It's the latest incident in an ongoing feud between the Republican Governor and the Democratic Attorney General. Some of the other disagreements have been about the reorganization of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees, as well as certain cuts to higher education funding Bevin proposed.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and the state’s only abortion provider are suing the state over the ultrasound regulations. Beshear said the parties in the lawsuit are not named properly.
“The ACLU didn’t go about the lawsuit the right way, so our office is aggressively defending that lawsuit,” Beshear said.
The plaintiffs in the suit allege the new law violates the free speech rights of doctors who provide abortions. Another new law bans abortions in Kentucky after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The Attorney General has said he will not defend the state if it’s sued over those restrictions.
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