LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers and the American Civil Liberties Union are again locked in a battle over abortion rights.

The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday shortly after Republican Governor Matt Bevin signed a new law banning a common second-trimester abortion procedure known as ‘‘dilation and evacuation.’’

Kentucky’s GOP-led Legislature passed the bill overwhelmingly. It is the second abortion law in as many years to draw a court challenge.

‘‘We’re suing Kentucky yet again — this time to stop state politicians from banning a safe abortion method,’’ said Talcott Camp of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.

Bevin’s communications director, Elizabeth Kuhn, said Wednesday that the ACLU’s lawsuit, while not surprising, was ‘‘nonetheless disturbing.’’ She said the new law seeks to protect the unborn from a ‘‘gruesome practice,’’ adding that few issues are as ‘‘common sense as protecting the most vulnerable among us’’ from such a ‘‘horrific act.’’

Kentucky’s lone abortion clinic and its physicians are plaintiffs in the suit, which seeks to block the law’s enforcement while the ACLU proceeds with claims that the law is unconstitutional.

associated press