How many KY lawmakers support adding exceptions to the state’s abortion ban? We asked.
.JPG "Renovations and repairs are being undertaken at the Kentucky state Capitol in Frankfort, Ky. Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021")
Ahead of the General Assembly’s 2023 regular session, set to begin early next year, the Herald-Leader has asked all sitting and incoming lawmakers whether they would support changes to Kentucky’s current abortion bans.
On Tuesday, the Herald-Leader distributed a six-question survey to gauge the willingness or reluctance of individual legislators to add more exceptions to Kentucky’s trigger law, which immediately became enforceable in late June with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
It bans abortion in all circumstances except to save the life of a pregnant person. Kentucky health care providers have criticized the narrow and vague parameters of the law’s medical exceptions, which don’t include allowances for any number of conditions when a fetus isn’t viable outside the womb but the health of the pregnant person is not immediately threatened. The trigger law does not include exceptions for rape, incest or minors seeking abortions.
A fetal heartbeat law is also currently in effect, which criminalizes abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detected, often around six weeks of pregnancy.
Pressure is mounting on lawmakers to consider reassessing their tack on abortion prohibitions after voters rejected Amendment 2 on November 8, a largely Republican-backed proposal that sought to amend the state constitution to make clear there is no protected right to abortion or the funding of abortion. Passage of Amendment 2 would not have brought about another abortion ban, but it would have prevented courts from interpreting a right to abortion as existing within the state constitution. With the constitution unchanged after the ballot question failed, this interpretation is still possible.
Here are the questions lawmakers were asked to answer:
- What are your primary reasons for supporting or not supporting statewide abortion restrictions in Kentucky?
- Do you support adding exceptions to the state’s trigger law, which currently outlaws abortion except to save a pregnant person’s life?
- If so, which exceptions do you support? Why?
- If a bill is proposed to add rape and incest exceptions to Kentucky’s trigger law, will you support it?
- Please elaborate on why you would or would not support adding rape & incest exceptions to Kentucky’s trigger law.
- In your opinion, what should state abortion policy look like in Kentucky?
Legislators have until midday on Tuesday, December 13 to submit their survey responses. The Herald-Leader will share those responses with readers.
What’s next for abortion access in Kentucky?
Ahead of the January regular session, lawmakers are also waiting for the Kentucky Supreme Court to weigh in on a legal challenge to both abortion bans, brought by the state’s two outpatient abortion clinics. They argue that the trigger law and six-week ban deny women access to comprehensive reproductive health care and, in doing so, infringes on their right to bodily autonomy and self-determination, which are protected rights under the Kentucky Constitution. Both laws, in other words , are unconstitutional, Planned Parenthood and EMW Women’s Surgical Center argue.
Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who’s running for governor, disagrees, insisting that because the word “abortion” is not explicitly mentioned in the state constitution, there are no inherent constitutional protections for the medical procedure.
The high court heard oral arguments on November 15 and will soon decide whether to reinstate an injunction that would temporarily block both abortion bans while the case is resolved in court.
This story was originally published November 30, 2022 at 11:23 AM.
