Kentucky legislature overrides Beshear's veto on abortion bill, shuttering abortion facilities for now

The Republican-dominated Kentucky state House and Senate each voted to override Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's veto on an abortion bill Wednesday, a move that is expected to temporarily shutter the two abortion facilities that currently operate in the state. 

H.B. 3 echoes the Mississippi law at the center of the Supreme Court case Whole Women's Health v. Jackson – the case in which the Court is expected to overturn the abortion precedent of Roe v. Wade (1973) – by banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for the life or health of the mother. The law also imposes additional reporting requirements in regards to medication abortions and stipulates that abortion facilities must work with a funeral home to dispose of fetal remains through individual burial or cremation.

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Since the bill is framed as an emergency measure, the law will go into immediate effect. The state's two abortion facilities said they would be unable to comply with some new requirements immediately, so they would stop offering abortions in the state unless a court blocks the law's implementation, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Beshear vetoed the bill Friday, faulting the bill for excluding exceptions for rape and incest. 

"Under House Bill 3, a 12-year-old child that is raped and impregnated by her father would not have the option of a procedure without both the consent of her mother and without also notifying her rapist – her father – at least 48 hours prior to obtaining a procedure," the governor wrote. 

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"Furthermore, House Bill 3 is likely unconstitutional," he added, citing statutes in Texas and Louisiana that the Supreme Court previously struck down. He noted that H.B. 3 "requires physicians performing nonsurgical procedures to maintain hospital admitting privileges in geographical proximity to the location where the procedure is performed," a restriction that the Court struck down. He also noted that the bill would create three new full-time positions and create a program estimated to cost $1 million – but the bill does not appropriate any funds for these purposes. 

Yet the state's House of Representatives voted to override his veto, 76 to 21, and the Senate concurred, 31 to 6.

The law's proponents say it contains common-sense requirements to ensure the dignity of fetal remains and protect women's health by more closely tracking potential complications from medication abortions. Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life and a former Kentucky legislator, said politicians spent years crafting the regulations and working with groups to ensure that they can be implemented.

"There’s no wording in there that would totally restrict or ban abortion," Wucher told The Wall Street Journal.

Abortion providers said there is no way for them to comply with the law as of yet, in part because some of the additional forms they need to file do not yet exist. They also raised concerns about finding funeral homes that would agree to work with them to dispose of fetal remains.

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union announced their intent to file lawsuits in Kentucky federal court, aiming to freeze the law's implementation. 

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"Along with Planned Parenthood, we're fighting to immediately block this law and ensure that people in Kentucky can continue to get the abortion care they need," the ACLU announced on Twitter.

Pro-life advocates hailed the legislature's move, however.

"We’re proud of the Kentucky Legislature for standing up to pro-abortion Governor Beshear," Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement Wednesday. "Like most Americans, Kentuckians want commonsense safeguards for unborn babies and their mothers and reject abortion on demand. We thank all our allies who fought to get this legislation across the finish line, and we hope the U.S. Supreme Court will soon allow the people and their legislators nationwide to enact laws that save lives."

States with Democratic legislatures have passed laws codifying abortion in case Roe gets overturned. Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo., signed a law creating a "fundamental right" to abortion and denying any right for the unborn. In 2019, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., signed a law codifying abortion rights and explicitly removing protections from unborn infants. 

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Meanwhile, states with Republican legislatures have passed laws restricting abortion, with Texas and Idaho passing laws allowing private citizens to file civil suits against individuals who aid or abet abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, at about 6 weeks of pregnancy. 

While many polls suggest Americans support Roe, in-depth polling reveals a more complicated picture. When asked about their opinion on abortion during specific periods of pregnancy and other situations, 71% of Americans say they support restricting abortion to the first three months of pregnancy (22%), or in other limited circumstances such as rape and incest (28%), to save the life of the mother (9%) or not at all (12%). Only 17% of Americans said abortion should be available during an entire pregnancy and 12% said it should be restricted to the first six months.