In January 2017, the Kentucky legislature fast-tracked an unconstitutional 20-week ban on abortion, which Governor Matt Bevin signed within a week of its introduction. This bill bans all abortions at 20 weeks post-fertilization and contains a narrow exception for medical emergencies that threaten the life of the pregnant woman or present a “serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” This bill excludes mental health from the exceptions and contains no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The ban is currently in effect.
Kentucky
Kentucky
In January 2017, the Kentucky legislature fast-tracked an unconstitutional 20-week ban on abortion, which Governor Matt Bevin signed within a week of its introduction. This bill bans all abortions at 20 weeks post-fertilization and contains a narrow exception for medical emergencies that threaten the life of the pregnant woman or present a “serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” This bill excludes mental health from the exceptions and contains no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The ban is currently in effect.
In January 2019, Kentucky Representative Robert Goforth (R-089) introduced H 100 to ban abortions upon detection of fetal heartbeat. The legislation contains narrow exceptions for medical emergencies; in this bill, a medical emergency is defined as a condition that “complicates the woman's pregnancy as to necessitate the immediate performance or inducement of an abortion in order to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to avoid a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman that delay in the performance or inducement of the abortion would create.” It also contains bias counseling about the heartbeat detection.
A similar bill, S 9, was introduced in the state Senate by Senator Matt Castlen (R-008).