Republican lawmakers pass medical exceptions to KY abortion ban. Dems call it ‘false hope’
Republicans gave final passage to a bill Thursday broadening medical exceptions under Kentucky’s strict abortion ban, finally heeding calls from doctors who’ve demanded greater flexibility in treating patients with severe pregnancy complications.
They did this in part by expanding and clarifying current statutory language giving doctors more leeway in when they can choose to provide a “medically-necessary” abortion. The bill also clarifies that doctors who make these decisions would not be subject to a criminal penalty.
“We wanted to make sure we’re protecting doctors making decisions to protect the patient,” Middletown Republican Rep. Jason Nemes said on the House floor Thursday.
Nearly all House Democrats voted against the bill, and Senate Democrats passed rather than vote yes or no.
GOP members of a Senate committee approved those last-minute medical exceptions late Wednesday night to House Bill 90, Nemes’ measure to lower barriers for freestanding birthing centers.
By early Thursday afternoon, the updated measure had been approved by the Senate and concurred on in House for final passage.
It now heads to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk for consideration. He can sign it into law, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.
Kentucky outlawed abortion in July 2022 under a trigger law and six-week ban, or fetal heartbeat law, which amount to a near-total ban, except in medical emergencies threatening a pregnant woman’s life.
But in the years since, OB-GYNs have told the Herald-Leader, often referred to as “life of the mother” exceptions, do not reflect the range of pregnancy complications that require a pregnancy be terminated.
This lack of clarity is compounded by risk of a felony for violating the law. As a result, doctors have referred patients, whose pregnancies they would otherwise terminate in hospitals, out of state.
The bill that now heads to the governor’s desk is an intended fix to that problem, said Nemes, along with Rep. Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg, Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, and Kentucky Right to Life Executive Director Addia Wuchner, who all helped present new versions of the this week.
Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg, a gynecologic oncologist in Louisville and legislative advocacy chair for the Kentucky Chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, also helped draft the legislation.
Key among the clarifications in the bill is the expanded definition of a doctor’s ability to use their “reasonable medical judgment” when providing a “medically-necessary” abortion, including in cases when “the pregnancy is no longer viable.”
Nemes made clear that amending the law in this way was not a portend of major rollbacks to the overall ban. Rather, it’s a necessary step for doctors to do their jobs without fear of being charged with a crime, as the current ban threatens.
“Kentucky is a pro-life state and will stay as such,” Nemes said minutes ahead of that final vote. “I’m prouder now in this moment, standing up here, than I’ve ever been, because this will save lives.”
Democrats say bill offers ‘false hope’
Most Democrats and reproductive rights allies remained unconvinced.
The revised iteration of the bill “indicates the Kentucky General Assembly recognizes that when people experience pregnancy complications that put their lives at risk, should receive appropriate medical care,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky said. “However, this bill does nothing to restore the right to abortion in the Commonwealth.”
All but three Democrats who cast votes — Rep. Rachel Roarx of Louisville, Rep. Adam Moore of Lexington and Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty of Martin — voted against the bill in the House, while Senate Democrats were united in their pass votes.
Their contentions were varied, but among them is that the fact that the bill still includes religiously-tinged and ideologically-fringe language not rooted in evidence-based health care.
The bill, for example, evades and muddies what is medically considered an abortion. Instead, the bill says an abortion “does not mean those actions that require separating the pregnant woman from her unborn child.”
Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, said she appreciated this language and the overall addition to the bill.
“We don’t want to break the law, but we also don’t want to break God’s law,” she said.
But late Wednesday night before House BIll 90 was voted out of committee, Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, said the bill — whose stated intention is to clarify — actually muddies the definition of abortion.
“You’re confusing people when you say these aren’t abortions when they are,” Berg, a physician, said. “The definition of an abortion is the termination of a pregnancy prior to viability.”
Louisville Democratic Rep. Sarah Stalker said the bill offered “false hope.”
“Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, we’ve not just compromised the lives of the people who become pregnant, but we’ve also compromised the careers and conscience of Kentucky physicians,” Stalker said. “You said we’re quibbling here over language, but ‘separation of mother and child’ is not medical language.
“I think really what that’s about is Republicans are not ever wanting to use the word abortion, so you’re going to dance around this and call it anything and everything you can, except for what it is. And that creates confusion in our medical industry.”
Roarx reminded Republicans why this measure was needed in the first place.
“We are in this mess . . . because current Kentucky state laws are so restrictive that we actually need clarity to save the life of a pregnant woman,” she said.
Newport Democratic Rep. Matt Lehman agreed.
“This body is the reason these women are in danger,” he said, raising his voice. “We don’t give credit to fireman when they put out a fire that they started.”
Tamarra Wieder, Kentucky director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, accused Republicans of “trying to inject fake medical terminology in a desperate attempt to mask the deadly impact of their anti-abortion bans.”
“We should be outraged at these coordinated attempts to redefine health care with barely any opportunity for public input,” she said. “Make no mistake: if these bills pass, legislators will be directly responsible for needless suffering and deaths across the commonwealth.”
But expansion of the bill language, like it or not, will better allow “doctors to just be doctors” by adding “much-needed clarity for the medical community,” Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, said Wednesday night.
This story may be updated.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 3:54 PM.
