Planned Parenthood clinic gets state approval to provide abortions in Kentucky
A second abortion provider will soon begin operating in Kentucky.
Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky announced Friday that it had received a provisional license from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services to provide abortion services at its Louisville Health Center, according to a news release.
Abortions will be available to patients at the clinic in March, Planned Parenthood said.
Kentucky has had just one abortion provider since 2016, when the EMW clinic in Lexington was closed under the administration of former Gov. Matt Bevin.
Chris Charbonneau, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, called the addition of a second abortion provider “a significant win for health care” in Kentucky.
“Abortion access in Kentucky and across the country is at great risk, so while this is a step forward, the fight is far from over,” Charbonneau said in the release. “We are glad to see the Cabinet for Health and Family Services follow the law and grant PPINK a provisional license because we met the requirements. All people in Kentucky deserve to make their own pregnancy decisions and to have access to safe and legal abortion.”
Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky had previously been denied a license by the state to offer abortions in Louisville. The Bevin administration had filed a lawsuit alleging that the Planned Parenthood clinic had performed 23 abortions illegally in late 2015 and early 2016.
After Gov. Andy Beshear took office, the cabinet rescinded the denial of the license, paving the way for the organization to reapply.
The other abortion provider in Kentucky is EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville.
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 5:46 PM.
