Kentucky judge dismisses Jewish mothers’ lawsuit challenging state abortion ban – The Forward

(JTA) — A Kentucky judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by three Jewish mothers who challenged the state’s abortion law on religious freedom grounds.

On Friday, Jefferson County District Judge Brian C. Edwards ruled that because none of the three women are currently pregnant — meaning their case is based on “fear of hypothetical future harm” — the lawsuit cannot proceed.

Plaintiffs Lisa Sobel, Jessica Kalb and Sarah Baron argued in their lawsuit, filed in 2022, that Kentucky’s abortion law makes in vitro fertilization more difficult by imposing undue burdens on the process of conceiving a child and violating Jewish understandings of when life begins.

Sobel, Kalb and Baron are among a handful of Jewish plaintiffs across America fighting in court for reproductive rights on religious freedom grounds in the years following the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of the Roe v. Wade ruling that granted federal protections for abortion. The decision in Kentucky came two weeks after a Missouri judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by interfaith clergy, including rabbis, challenging abortion restrictions in the state.

In the Kentucky case, Edwards ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit.

“In the case before the Court, the alleged injuries of the three Plaintiffs are hypothetical because none of them are currently pregnant or undergoing in vitro fertilization. Accordingly, the Court simply cannot find that Plaintiffs have established ‘a genuine dispute as to the issue at issue,’” he wrote in his opinion Friday.

All three plaintiffs in the Kentucky case said they are religiously motivated to start families. All three already have children and want at least one more, but they would need in vitro fertilization treatment to do so for health reasons. Kentucky law places restrictions on the disposal of surplus embryos, which is part of the in vitro fertilization process.

Debates stemming from the overturning of Roe v. Wade have led to challenges to in vitro fertilization elsewhere, most notably in Alabama, where the state’s top court ruled earlier this year that frozen embryos are human beings and that people who handle them can be held liable for wrongful death. The state then passed a law protecting in vitro fertilization providers from such lawsuits.

According to the Kentucky lawsuit, Kalb is currently paying storage fees for nine embryos that were created during a previous IVF process, and she fears she may be forced to carry a dead fetus to full term if she decides to undergo IVF again. She also fears she will be charged with murder if she decides to dispose of the excess embryos, the lawsuit says.

“We are deeply disappointed by Judge Edwards’ decision to dismiss our lawsuit on grounds of standing. This ruling overlooks key issues central to our case that are of great importance to countless individuals and families across our state,” Sobel wrote in a public post on a GoFundMe page aimed at raising funds for the plaintiffs’ legal fees. “We should not have to go through an emotional, financially costly process only to learn that we may have to leave the state or face legal action because we have nonviable pregnancies or embryos that we cannot use.”

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman praised the ruling and denied that abortion laws make it harder to get in vitro fertilization in the state.

“We appreciate the Court’s decision to uphold Kentucky’s law,” Coleman said in a statement Friday. “Most importantly, the Court eliminates any notion that access to in vitro fertilization services in our Commonwealth is at risk. Today’s opinion is welcome reassurance for the many Kentuckians who want to become parents.”