Rape and incest exceptions to KY’s abortion ban are legislative red herrings | Opinion
As expected, especially on the heels of another big election year where abortion access has been consistently favored across the nation, talk of rape and incest exceptions overwhelm the halls of Frankfort.
Back in early December, the Lexington Herald Leader reported on the GOP caucusing to consider exceptions as a policy priority. While the GOP hasn’t introduced any such bills, it’s clear the Kentucky Democratic Party is seeking some symbolic attempt at introducing an exception bill, with one filed Tuesday by Senator David Yates, D-Louisville. While this bill will very likely not see the light of a committee hearing, it’s time Kentucky Democrats face the truth about exceptions: they are a complete fallacy that has proven to be ineffective and often instrumental in further delaying care for people seeking abortions. Exceptions and anti-abortion policy are different sides of the same coin. Kentucky Democrats have a responsibility to represent the interests of their constituents with assured effective policy and they need to start acting like it.
As co-director of Kentucky Health Justice Network’s abortion fund, I support Kentuckians seeking legal abortion out of state daily. Part of that work requires an understanding of the bans in place on a statewide, regional, or national level. I know that exceptions to abortion bans are nothing but a red herring, with the only people benefiting from such policies being lawmakers who manipulate the public into believing exceptions have any opportunity to mitigate harm. In reality, they won’t.
Abortion exceptions are proven to be unworkable, physically and emotionally traumatic, and a factor in delaying care. We know Kentucky lawmakers are incredibly influential in shaping public opinion on top issues in the state, and the sensitivity of topics like rape and incest can provoke very complex beliefs about abortion on all sides of the political spectrum. But, with no path to guarantee any functionality, I can’t help but wonder what the real goals are when advocating for these types of bills. Ultimately, the only way to expand abortion rights is for Kentucky lawmakers to move past exceptions and hold stronger positions on abortion access that have the potential to successfully remove barriers for Kentuckians.
The implementation and enforcement of exceptions is dysfunctional at best. Consider our current sole exception: in matters of life and death for the pregnant person, the law does not give a clear guideline for how doctors should treat their pregnant patients. Dr. Coy Flowers, vice president of American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told KY Health News last year, “There could be confusion when deciding whether the life of the patient or the fetus must take legal priority, so physicians may pause in the middle of treating complex cases.” Recent horrific news stories detail pregnant people who waited to get medical care, including in hospital parking lots, until they were on the verge of death. Just last month, the nation witnessed Kate Cox, a woman in Texas, racing against the clock to be granted an emergency order to receive a life-saving abortion in her home state. Eventually, she had to leave the state for an abortion before her pregnancy inevitably killed her.
How can Kentuckians trust that rape survivors will be granted such exceptions when our current exception has such sloppy legal parameters that doctors are intimidated out of providing care for fear of risking their medical licenses and potential criminalization? Along with the lack of realistic logistics from the physician’s side, most people don’t learn they are pregnant until after 6 weeks, long past the ability to utilize a rape test kit. The majority of sexual crimes go unreported, largely in part because of a systemic failure to believe and support survivors. The notion that rape culture will disappear when a rape survivor requests an abortion, one of the most stigmatized and controversial healthcare options, is frankly delusional.
Even in such cases in which the rape survivor went through all requirements to be legally granted the abortion in Kentucky, these exceptions fail to consider any existing laws that are still enforced that limit abortion care. Additionally, any law that is so narrowly defined that it requires legal permission is not conducive to time-sensitive abortion care. There is no way to pause a pregnancy and these extra steps only compound an already strenuous process that puts abortion access further out of reach. This is a reality KHJN contends with daily while supporting Kentuckians seeking abortion.
I witness the impact of abortion policy every day, my professional career and personal activism are dedicated to reducing the barriers caused by laws. In part, that is why I am so critical of abortion policy from both parties because these laws materially affect the quality of life and well-being of Kentuckians. Often it seems as if those in Frankfort have lost sight of the purpose of legislating, by progressively setting the standard of seeking out and exploiting people’s deeply personal traumas as a messaging tool rather than truly attempting to broaden abortion rights for Kentuckians. At the end of the day, after the initial attention from the media, the bill will quietly die, and those in power will move on to the next issue.
For pregnant Kentuckians, and those like us fighting for abortion rights, there is no option to simply move on. Kentuckians deserve more from our elected officials than symbolic DOA bills. Kentuckians deserve lawmakers who prioritize the health, well-being, and self-determination of their constituents, which includes unrestricted access to abortion. While there is certainly a long road ahead to securing abortion rights in Kentucky, we all deserve a proper fight.
Savannah Trebuna is a native Kentuckian and one of the Abortion Fund Program co-Directors for Kentucky Health Justice Network.