Civil rights group sues to block Kentucky abortion law News
Civil rights group sues to block Kentucky abortion law

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [official website] filed a lawsuit [text, PDF] in the US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky [official website] Tuesday challenging the Kentucky abortion measures that Governor Matt Bevin [official website] signed into law earlier that day.

ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of the EMW Women’s Surgical Center, P.S.C., Kentucky’s sole licensed abortion facility, and two physicians who also treat EMW’s patients. The ACLU stated [press release] that this lawsuit is aimed at protecting women’s rights to safe, affordable abortions and the ability to choose what happens to their bodies.

Under House Bill 454 [text, PDF], the abortion procedure [JURIST report] known as “excavation and dilation” is illegal after the eleventh week of pregnancy. A physician who knowingly performs an abortion in violation of the bill can be found guilty of a class D felony. The bill does include an exception for medical emergencies, but not for rape or incest.

The complaint alleges the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s right to privacy and right to bodily integrity, stating, “[b]y banning the safest and most common method of abortion starting in the early second trimester, the Act violates Plaintiffs’ patients’ right to liberty and privacy.” The plaintiffs’ are asking the court deem the law “unconstitutional and unenforceable”, and to immediately forbid enforcement.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.