Two Kentucky lawmakers filed similar bills in the House and Senate last week that would add exceptions to the state’s law protecting preborn children by allowing abortion in certain cases.
Senate Bill 35, filed by Sen. David Yates, and House Bill 203, filed by Rep. Ken Fleming, would allow abortions in the case of rape or incest or when the child has a “lethal fetal anomaly.” Current state law protects nearly all preborn children from induced abortion.
Kentucky law defines abortion as “the use of any means whatsoever to terminate the pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant with intent to cause fetal death.” The Kentucky Human Life Protection Act (HB 148 from 2019) states:
No person may knowingly:
1. Administer to, prescribe for, procure for, or sell to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, or other substance with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being; or
2. Use or employ any instrument or procedure upon a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being.
It also states that anyone who violates this law shall be guilty of a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, and that “a medical procedure necessary in reasonable medical judgment to prevent the death or substantial risk of death due to a physical condition, or to prevent the serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ of a pregnant woman shall not be considered an abortion.” However, the doctor must attempt to save both the mother and child. Medical treatment provided to the mother by a licensed physician that results in the accidental or unintentional injury or death of the preborn child is also not considered an abortion.
READ: Planned Parenthood’s repeated failure to report child sexual abuse has impacted countless lives
Fleming’s new House bill would also add that abortion is allowed “to remove a dead unborn fetus,” and “to remove an ectopic pregnancy or incomplete miscarriage.” This language is misleading because miscarriage care is not an induced abortion. An induced abortion is the direct and intentional killing of the preborn child. If the child is already deceased, standard medical care to remove the child’s remains is not an abortion.
“While the Court continues to consider the legal challenges to abortion policies, we have an opportunity to deliberate a path forward for Kentucky and provide both clarity to medical providers and compassion to victims of rape and incest,” Fleming said in a statement to WDRB. “I’ve had countless conversations with fellow legislators who are passionately pro-life, but also know the hell that these victims have endured, I think most Kentuckians are coming to terms with the same concerns.”
Though Fleming claims that abortion is a ‘compassionate’ response to rape, it actually compounds the trauma experienced by the woman. Rape is undoubtedly a traumatic experience, but asking the mother to undergo a second violent act — the killing of her preborn child — does not heal that wound. Instead, it doubles it and punishes the child with a death sentence for a crime he did not commit.
Live Action has featured powerful, positive testimonies from rape survivors who have chosen life for their children. Though she was raped at age 12, Lianna Rebolledo chose life for her daughter, acknowledging that she knew abortion would just be a “double rape.” Crystal Willis changed her mind about abortion on her way to the facility, and today she says, “My daughter knows she is a gift from God.” And although Steventhen Holland’s mother had no support and was intensely pressured to abort him after she was raped, she too chose life. “She is absolutely my hero,” Holland told Live Action.
Tell President Trump, RFK, Jr., Elon, and Vivek:
Stop killing America’s future. Defund Planned Parenthood NOW!
