WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorney General Daniel Cameron urged the U.S. Supreme Court to let him intervene in a case involving an abortion ban Kentucky lawmakers passed in 2018.

What You Need To Know

  • Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron wants to intervene in a case involving an abortion ban passed in 2018

  • The legislature passed a law banning the dilation and evacuation procedure

  • A federal appeals court ruled the law was unconstitutional in 2019 and an appeals panel upheld that decision
  • Gov. Andy Beshear, who was Attorney General at the time the law was passed, declined to continue defending the law after he became governor

The law, House Bill 454, would ban the dilation and evacuation procedure that is one of the most common abortion procedures in the state.

“I think it expresses the values and the compassion of Kentucky to say that if this procedure is to occur, we do not want that child to feel pain in the womb,” Cameron said. “The dilation and evacuation procedure is gruesome. It rips a baby apart. We don’t want a child to feel that pain.”

A federal court blocked the law from taking effect in 2019 and a three-judge panel in the 6th Circuit upheld the lower court’s ruling. The law was passed under former Gov. Matt Bevin and after Gov. Andy Beshear took over his office declined to pursue the case further.

“Somebody’s got to pick up and defend the laws of a state, and state sovereignty requires that there be someone who stands up and defends the laws that are passed by our general assembly; that defends the laws that reflect the values of Kentuckians,” Cameron said.

During Tuesday’s hearing, a few justices including Justice Stephen Breyer indicated a possible willingness to let Cameron intervene after lower courts rejected his petition to join the legal challenge.

"If there is no prejudice to anybody — and I can't see where there is — why can't he just come in and defend the law?" Breyer asked.

Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said Cameron is trying to join the case far too late.

"Intervention is not a revolving door,” she said.

Despite lower-court rulings against the law, Cameron said he thinks the courts need to take another look, especially after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving a different abortion law in Texas last year.

“We think that because of that analysis changing, it could have some bearing on House Bill 454,” he said. “Again, if we prevail here at the Supreme Court, get our chance, knocking on the door of the 6th Circuit to go back there and get that second bite of the apple, we will get to articulate that new standard that was set out.”

Abortion wasn’t mentioned during the hearing Tuesday. Instead, the court will decide on the procedural issue and whether or not the case will be allowed to continue.

There’s no timeline for a ruling.

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