ACLU of Kentucky

The RFP is very pleased to be able to give you great news.

No new anti-choice restrictions passed in this year’s General Assembly!

Despite anti-choice legislators dirty tactics, we were able to defeat several pieces of legislation.
The first piece of legislation was Senate Bill 38.  SB 38 would have forced a woman to travel to an abortion clinic at least 24 hours prior to obtaining an abortion, which in effect would have doubled many women’s travel and child care costs.  The bill also would have forced a woman to listen to the results of an ultrasound even if she didn’t want to hear those results.  In trying to pass this legislation, anti-choice Representatives Floyd, Fischer, and Moore attached the bill as an amendment to several pieces of legislation.  By attaching these bills, these legislators killed bills that ranged from tracking child abuse deaths to helping at risk youth.  Thankfully pro-choice legislators were able to stop SB 38.

We owe a huge amount of gratitude to Representatives Burch, Marzian, Jenkins, Palumbo, Owens, Westrom, and Watkins for voting against SB 38 in the Health and Welfare Committee.  We also need to thank Senators, Stein, Harper-Angel, Shaughnessy, and Pendleton for being the only Senators to vote against SB 38. Please consider sending them a thank you note!

We also defeated two bills that sought to punish pregnant women addicted to drugs and alcohol.  According to House Bills 136 and 430, if a pregnant woman ingested drugs or alcohol prior to giving birth she would be charged with Wanton Child Endangerment.  Thankfully we were able to defeat this legislation.

Thank you for all the calls, emails, and letters you sent to legislators during this session.  We wouldn’t have been able to defeat this legislation without your help!