Rep. Joseph M. Fischer, R-Fort Thomas, presenting HB 67 for a vote
FRANKFORT, KY—The question of whether Kentucky’s Constitution should be amended to specifically address abortion could be decided by voters this fall under a proposed constitutional amendment that has cleared the state House.
The proposed constitutional amendment in House Bill 67 would ask voters if the Kentucky Constitution should be amended with a new section that would specifically state, “To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.” The proposed amendment would go before Kentucky voters in this November’s general election should HB 67 pass.
HB 67 primary cosponsor Rep. Joseph M. Fischer, R-Fort Thomas, said a “right to abortion” isn’t found anywhere in the state or U.S. constitutions. Courts have instead based decades of abortion decisions on the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, Fischer told the House before yesterday’s vote.
State voter approval of the proposed amendment, said Fischer, could offer more legislative options should the U.S. Supreme Court ever reverse its decision in Roe v. Wade.
“Let’s not allow our state courts to invent a new right to an abortion, and to invalidate our state laws protecting unborn children that have already been upheld in federal court,” Fischer said.
The other primary cosponsor of HB 67 is Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge.
Among those House members voting against HB 67 was Rep. Maria Sorolis, D-Louisville, who said that outlawing abortion doesn’t stop abortion.
“It makes it illegal, expensive, and unsafe,” she said.
Kentucky law requiring pregnant women seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound and for a health professional to display the ultrasound image so that the patient may see it was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last December.
HB 67 passed the House 71-21 and now advances to the Senate.
