For Kentucky Republicans, the Right to Life brand has become toxic in 2024 election | Opinion

What was once a badge of honor for conservative candidates across the commonwealth — the Kentucky Right to Life (RTL) endorsement—is now seemingly a mark of shame.

The anti-abortion group released its list of endorsed candidates this month, and an eye-catching number of the Pro-Life Caucus declined to participate to obtain a full endorsement. In fact, 49 Republican candidates and zero Democrats for the House, and nearly half of the Republican Senate candidates “declined” to respond to the annual RTL questionnaire. The RTL questionnaire is used to measure a candidate’s commitment to anti-abortion policies and other conservative benchmarks, and its completion is required for a candidate to be “endorsed.”

Even prominent figures like Senate President Robert Stivers and Speaker of the House David Osborne declined to fill out the Right to Life questionnaire, sending a clear message to the rest of their party. It seems that for many Republican candidates, the Right to Life brand has become so toxic that they wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. For example, candidates in House districts 77 and 88, received a “qualifier” status from RTL simply because their opponents were incumbent Democrats who support abortion access.

What’s going on? Two things. The Right to Life questionnaire is more extreme than ever and their policies are proving dangerous for people across the commonwealth. Now, GOP members are trying to walk back their association with the extremist group. Even links to past endorsements have seemingly disappeared. The narrative that Kentucky is an anti-abortion state was never true—years of polling backs this up—and now that abortion has been banned, legislators are backtracking their historical positions of being an extremist on reproductive health policies.

Don’t let these legislators fool you. The incumbent candidates are responsible for the ban that is in place, and they are coming after other reproductive health services next access to birth control, IVF treatments, and comprehensive sex education.

Here are just a few of the questions provided by the RTL questionnaire this year:

▪ ...would you support a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would… treat as “persons” all human beings, born and unborn…” pg 4

▪ “The right to life of human beings must be respected at every stage of their biological development beginning at the moment of fertilization, regardless of fertilization occurring in the womb, the Petri dish, or another scientific venue.” pg 7

▪ “Do you believe that a child conceived as a result of sexual assault (rape or incest) is any less human or has any less dignity than a child conceived in the loving embrace of their parents?”

None of these questions help a pregnant person in Kentucky get the care they need or make access to tools for those who struggle to have families easier in the future to obtain. They do completely remove the ability for a patient to decide how to control their own body and life. And Kentuckians don’t want politicians making their medical decisions, period.

Anti-abortion agendas are not limited to abortion. They attack access to health insurance, birth control, and IVF, impacting the broader spectrum of reproductive health and personal freedom. In 2024, several states tried to limit birth control access, and under existing abortion bans, the same could happen in Kentucky if some legislators and RTL have their way.

Don’t be fooled. Watch what they do, not what they say. Abortion opponents are rightfully running scared and trying to hide their records. But we know the truth. In every state where anti-abortion politicians have the power to enact laws, they have pursued restrictions on sexual and reproductive health care and total abortion bans—and have largely succeeded.

This election isn’t a game. Kentuckians are tired of politicians playing with their lives. They’re out of touch with Kentuckians and know their positions will cost them at the ballot box. Know this: we decide what comes next.

Tamarra Wieder is the Kentucky State Director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.