Kentucky lawmaker discusses restrictive legislation
New bill imposes uncomfortable restrictions on medication abortion
(Kentucky State Rep. Rachel Roberts)
A new bill from Kentucky’s general assembly requires women to collect embryonic discharge as a specimen following the ingestion of an abortion pill. Following that, they must take it back to a reproductive health clinic, get a death certificate and arrange for burial or cremation. That would create a public record of the abortion.
That was the product of what can fairly be described as morbid legislative brainstorming by pro-choice activists. Democratic Kentucky State Rep. Rachel Roberts was one of the people who resisted the new law that was passed over a governor’s veto on April 13. Roberts said it was, “a whole bunch of bad ideas that came from other states crammed into our bill to make ours the most restrictive in the country.”
The bill will effectively shut down the two remaining abortion clinics in the state. Both are located in Louisville. It bans abortions after 15 weeks. There are also cumbersome requirements associated with medication abortion that haven’t already been mentioned. They have to get the pill from a clinic, which would be impossible if no clinic existed. Mail is not an option if the Supreme Court permits the law to stand.
Roberts sought to add a provision to the bill permitting abortions in the case of rape and incest. The amendment didn’t succeed.
The biggest organization driving the antiabortion narrative there is Kentucky Right to Life, which is the oldest such organization in the state. Earlier this year they had shot down a bill to limit end-of-life treatment because they felt it was a form of euthanasia.
“That is how powerful that lobbying group is in the state of Kentucky and anything that they deem unfavorable they will exert their strength and power,” Roberts said. “And they wield a lot of power in the state. They do.”
The ACLU and Planned Parenthood filed lawsuits for an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect.
Roberts is concerned with whether this will exacerbate the shortage of OB/GYNs currently in the state because of how punitive it is toward abortion providers.
“We already have medical deserts here where people can't seek care at all,” Roberts said. “And we're making it even harder to practice medicine in the state. So I worry we're going to see an outflux of OB/GYN here in short order as well if we don't get this injunction put in place.”