FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky's near-total abortion ban would be relaxed to allow exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest under a bill introduced Wednesday by a prominent lawmaker, who stopped short of predicting how his Republican colleagues will react to his proposal.
Republican state Rep. Jason Nemes offered the measure on the final day for bills to be filed in the House for this year's 30-day legislative session, which reaches the midway point Thursday.
Nemes, a member of House GOP leadership as majority whip, said he has discussed the bill with colleagues but wouldn't predict how it will fare with the chamber's Republican supermajority.
“We’ll see. It’s something I believe in," Nemes told reporters. "I think it’s the right thing to do. I think it’s what our citizens want us to do.”
The new bill surfaced nearly a week after Kentucky's Supreme Court refused to halt the near-total statewide abortion ban that has largely been in place since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The justices, however, ruled on narrow legal issues, leaving unanswered the larger constitutional questions about whether access to abortion should be legal in the Bluegrass State. They sent the case back to a lower court for further consideration of constitutional issues.
Kentucky's near-total trigger law bans abortions except when they are carried out to save the life of the mother or to prevent disabling injury. It doesn't include exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The law was passed in 2019 and took effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Nemes' bill would allow abortions for up to 15 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape or incest.
It includes another exemption to allow abortions when two doctors determine that a fetus has an “abnormality that is incompatible with life outside the womb.”
The bill would maintain the existing exception to protect the mother's life.
The measure is likely to reignite heated debates over abortion policy in Kentucky.
Republican state Rep. Emily Callaway recently introduced a bill aimed at allowing illegal abortions to be prosecuted as homicides. Meanwhile, Democratic state Rep. Lindsey Burke on Wednesday said she will push for legislation to restore abortion access in Kentucky.
"Pregnant people in Kentucky should have a right to determine for themselves, with advice from their doctor and their trusted loved ones, how they wish to manage their health care decisions and needs,” Burke said at a news conference.
The debate comes after Kentucky voters last year rejected a measure on the midterm election ballot that would have denied any constitutional protections for abortion.
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