Will Lexington enforce abortion ban? Here’s what the candidates for mayor say.
.png "Incumbent Mayor Linda Gorton will face David Kloiber in the November general election in Lexington, Kentucky.")
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton has not said if she will encourage law enforcement to prosecute medical providers who provide abortions in the wake of Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade.
Susan Straub, a spokeswoman for Gorton, said, “We have not assessed if there will be an impact on local government. Generally, we are talking about state and federal actions and laws.”
The U.S. Supreme Court voted abortion is not a constitutionally-protected right. In doing so, it overturned the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.
Kentucky has a ‘trigger” law that bans abortions in the state immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled. That law says: “no person may knowingly administer to, prescribe for, procure for, or sell to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, or other substance with specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being.”
Under the state law, anyone caught doing so will be charged with a Class C felony.
The law says abortions can only be administered “to prevent the death or substantial risk of death . . . or to prevent the serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ of a pregnant woman.”
Gorton, a registered nurse in her first term, faces Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman David Kloiber in the November general election. The race is non-partisan. Gorton is a Republican. Kloiber is a Democrat.
Kloiber blasted the Supreme Court’s decision and said he would not use law enforcement to go after “victims”.
Under Kentucky law, rape and incest victims are not protected and can not receive abortions under the law.
“This decision limits essential, lifesaving health care for women and now unnecessarily puts politicians in charge of personal decisions best left up to a woman, her doctor, and her values,” Kloiber said. “Lexington needs leaders who will stand up for our marginalized communities that this will undoubtedly have a greater impact on. As mayor, there is no circumstance in which I would take law enforcement away from protecting our streets to go after victims of crime.”
Fayette County prosecutors weigh in on law
Fayette County Attorney Larry Roberts said Friday afternoon that if he were dealing with a case pertaining to Kentucky’s abortion law, he would look at each case individually.
“I’m going to take every case that comes to me by itself,” he said.
Angela Evans, who unseated Roberts in the May election, will take office as county attorney in January. She said she would attend a Planned Parenthood rally downtown Friday night.
“I’m going to protect the rights of women as equal citizens of the county,” Evans said in a brief phone interview. “I don’t believe this decision does that at all. It reduces women to less than equal citizens, as second-class citizens.”
“I will not be inclined to prosecute women or those trying to help them make decisions ... on when and how they reproduce,” she said.
Louisville mayor criticizes Supreme Court decision
In a statement on Twitter, outgoing Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, a Democrat, said he was “disgusted” by the decision but stopped short of saying whether his administration would enforce it.
“The justices have ignored precedent and the wishes of the vast majority of Americans, and their decision makes women second-class citizens in their own country,” Fischer said. “Most horrifically, their decision will not end abortions, it will only make them dangerous and deadly. “
Fischer urged Congress to take action.
“I urge Congress to immediately pursue legislative remedies to ensure women and girls have the reproductive health care they deserve,” Fischer said. “We must fight this horrendous action.”
Craig Greenberg, a Democrat who is running against Republican Bill Dieruf in the November general election for Louisville mayor, said he would not use law enforcement to enforce bans on reproductive health: “As Mayor, I will do everything within the city’s power to limit the damage of this decision. I pledge that our police department will not be the enforcement arm of a ban on reproductive health care, be it abortion or other medical decisions.”
Dieruf, the Jeffersontown mayor, said in a written statement: “I am choosing to leave the decision-making on this issue in the hands of the state and federal officials who have the ability in their roles to affect legislation related to abortion.”
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky has said it will file a lawsuit arguing the Kentucky Constitution allows for the legal right to an abortion.
“Whatever shifting barriers anti-abortion judges and politicians put before us, we will never stop fighting for people’s ability to make their own reproduction health care decisions, including whether and when to become parents,” said Heather Gatnarek, ACLU of Kentucky staff attorney. “No one should have the decision to remain pregnant forced upon them, which is what anti-abortion politicians seek to do.”
In November, voters will be asked if the the state constitution should be amended to include this statement: “To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to an abortion or require the funding of an abortion.”
Herald-Leader staff writer Karla Ward contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 2:33 PM.
