A Jefferson County judge has struck down part of Kentucky law defining human life as beginning at conception, clearing the way for a Jewish woman suing the state to pursue in vitro fertilization without fear of prosecution, according to the Kentucky Lantern.

Circuit Judge Brian Edwards ruled Friday that the definition in the state's Human Life Protection Act is "void for vagueness," finding that the portion defining a human being as "an individual living member of the species homo sapiens throughout the entire embryonic and fetal stages of the unborn child from fertilization to full gestation and childbirth" is unconstitutionally unclear.

The ruling marks a significant moment in a yearslong legal battle brought by Jessica Kalb, a Louisville resident who sued in 2022 alongside two other Jewish women. Kalb has nine frozen embryos and filed the challenge claiming that Kentucky's abortion restrictions, combined with its definition of life beginning at conception, creates a confusing legal landscape that conflicts with her Jewish faith, which holds that life begins at birth, not conception.

"This Court can no longer dismiss the concerns raised by (Kalb) regarding how she and others should interpret what they can and cannot lawfully do in order to avoid possible incarceration and criminal prosecution," Edwards wrote, though he noted the power to clarify the law "rests not with this Court but with the Kentucky State Legislature."

The legal saga has stretched more than three years. Edwards initially dismissed the case, but the Kentucky Court of Appeals allowed Kalb to proceed in July 2025, finding she had standing to challenge the law because she faces concrete concerns about her frozen embryos.

While Edwards did not agree with arguments that the law burdens Jewish religious beliefs, saying it is "religiously neutral," his ruling on vagueness opens potential doors for additional legal challenges. Kalb's attorneys Aaron Kemper and Ben Potash said the decision could clear the way for IVF access.

"Because if you strike down the definition that a human being is a fetus, then IVF should be completely clear," Kemper said. The state attorney general's office has previously argued that Kentucky law protects IVF and that embryos not implanted do not fall under abortion or homicide laws.

Kalb, who has polycystic ovary syndrome that increases pregnancy risks, canceled a planned embryo implantation in 2022 due to uncertainty about how Kentucky's laws would apply to her situation. Edwards' decision suggests she and others can now move forward with IVF procedures more confidently, though the broader abortion restrictions remain in place. The judge criticized the state legislature for leaving the legal framework ambiguous, citing a proposed bill this year that would have allowed homicide charges against women who have abortions.