LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This November, Kentuckians will have more to vote on than just their chosen political candidates.
A constitutional amendment will also be on the ballot, asking voters to decide if text should be added to the state constitution that would eliminate abortion.
Friday, one lawmaker and pro-choice groups encouraged Kentuckians to vote 'no.’
“We are urging individuals to vote no in November, which is easy to remember,” Dr. Caitlin Thomas, attending physician at the Kentucky American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said.
Speakers raised concerns over maternal mortality, limited access to health care and more.
According to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ 2021 annual report, in 2018, 16% of maternal deaths were pregnancy-related, and 52% were pregnancy-associated. The report also stated 52% of maternal mortality cases had substance use disorder linked to their death, and 91% of maternal mortality cases were deemed preventable.
One mother, Meredith, said she miscarried this summer and afterward faced pushback. She said she was asked to 'prove' that she needed medication in relation to a miscarriage, and not an abortion.
“To be questioned at that most vulnerable time in my life, going through, you know, loss, and just the physical pain and emotional pain, you're still losing this baby, it was just a unique kind of cruelty that no person should experience,” Meredith said.
She said that experience makes her concerned for all women - those who want to be pregnant, and those who don't.
Republican State Representative Nancy Tate said the life of the mother is already protected in Kentucky law, and this amendment wouldn't change that.
"There's a complete difference in the circumstances and it infuriates me that people use that to encourage people to vote no, for this constitutional amendment,” Tate said.
Speakers at the pro-choice even said while there is a difference, doctors may be hesitant to perform care; it’s something Tate said is not true.
"This is the hand of the state, forcing people to remain pregnant against their will, mandating that they stay pregnant against their will,” Thomas said.
"We value life from conception to natural death, and this constitution amendment will protect and continue to protect the baby in the womb,” Tate said.
Overall, both sides are counting on Kentuckians to flip their ballots over and vote in November.
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