UPDATED JUNE 21 2023

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 20, 2023) After a federal court dismissed challenges to the Humanity in Healthcare Act last week, Attorney General Daniel Cameron celebrates another legal victory for mothers and unborn children. Today, General Cameron announced that the plaintiffs in Jefferson Circuit Court—Planned Parenthood and EMW Women’s Surgical Center—have conceded and moved for voluntary dismissal of their challenge to Kentucky’s Human Life Protection Act.

Attorney General Cameron released the following statement::

“A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable—especially the unborn. Today is a reminder that every life deserves to live. My office will always defend and enforce Kentucky’s pro-life laws passed by our General Assembly. We are gratified that the abortion providers recognized their case should be dismissed. As a result of our efforts, I am proud to say that the elective abortion industry is out of business in Kentucky, and their inhumane practice remains illegal in our Commonwealth.”

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FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 16, 2023) Attorney General Cameron announces that a federal court has dismissed the challenge to House Bill 3—the Humanity in Healthcare Act—brought by Planned Parenthood and EMW Women’s Surgical Center. One of the most comprehensive pieces of pro-life legislation in the Commonwealth’s history, the Humanity in Healthcare Act is now fully in force and is the law of Kentucky.

The dismissal of the challenge to HB 3 follows a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Court ordered that the district court’s rulings questioning HB 3’s legality are no longer binding and lifted the district court’s injunction preventing full enforcement of the law.

General Cameron released the following statement:

“Our laws should reflect our values. Kentuckians across the Commonwealth have repeatedly sent pro-life representatives to Frankfort to protect the health and safety of mothers and unborn children. That’s exactly what the General Assembly did in 2022 with House Bill 3. I always have and always will stand strong in defense of our pro-life legislation. And because of my office’s work, every word of the Humanity in Healthcare Act is now law.”

View the court ruling here.

Kentucky State Vital Statistics for ABORTION in 2021 are now online. By law, the state must post vital statistics for abortions done the previous year no later than September 30 following the end of the fiscal year.

The 2021 statistics were posted on September 30, 2022. As you can see, there were 4,441 abortions in our Commonwealth in 2021, up from 4104 in 2020. The link to the full report is here.

The Census.gov website screenshot below shows KY population statistics. You will note that KY has only 8.6% Black or African Americans as of July 1, 2021, YET this small percent has 34% of the abortions for 2021! Do Black Lives not Matter? There were 107 more abortions on Black Kentuckians in 2021 than in ’20, or 1,525 over 1,418.

The 2022 numbers should be fewer due to the closing of the abortion clinics after the Roe decision and some subsequent litigation.

DO WE WANT TO RETURN TO ABORTION ON DEMAND? In 2021 there were 243 Dismemberment Abortions! THE WORST TYPE!

Let’s Stand for Life! This November, vote YES for life, Yes on #2.

NO SURPRISES HERE! On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made “permanent” its April 2021 Covid Pandemic lifting of medical restrictions on RU486 ALLOWING ABORTION PILLS BY MAIL! While we anticipated the FDA’s further expansion of this dangerous Death by Mail distribution of the RU486 chemical abortion protocol, it only affirms the abortion lobby’s disregard for human life. This reaffirms what ProLife advocates have continued to say - that their anti-Iife agenda is also anti-women’s health and safety!

The FDA order removes the longstanding required in-person medical provider protocol for women seeking a chemical abortion (medical-nonsurgical termination of her pregnancy). Thursday’s decision by the FDA allows the combination abortion pills protocol - mifepristone and misoprostol, to be distributed by mail. (During the Covid 19 Pandemic, the FDA had temporarily lifted the in-person medical protocol requirement on mifepristone, the first of the two-drug protocol required to end a pregnancy).

“Sadly, we were anticipating this tragic weakening of Federal safety regulations and further disregard for the health of young girls and women,” said Kentucky Right to Life Executive Director, Addia Wuchner. “Kentucky Right to Life has been conferring for over a year with other prolife groups and medical professionals on this matter. Long before the pandemic, we were acutely aware of this extended overexpansion by the abortion and anti-life lobby and their promotion of dangerous DO-IT-YOURSELF abortions. They view chemical abortion as the future of their industry, as it is cost-effective for them and more difficult to regulate.”

On Wednesday of this week, Addia, Kentucky State Representative Nancy Tate and Dr. Ingrid Skop presented legislation for the upcoming Legislative Session before the Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare. The Humanity in Healthcare Act is multi-provisional legislation prepared for the 2022 General Assembly Session.

An entire section of the bill contains language that would ban mail-order abortions in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The proposed bill requires standardized practice for distribution of this two-pill abortion protocol which includes an in-person meeting with the medical provider, an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy and gestational age, lab work such as testing for RH factor and STD screening, along with information on medical risks for example infection or bleeding, what to expect after taking the medication, when to seek emergency treatment if necessary, and requires a 14-day follow-up visit with her medical provider. It also reaffirms that the women be provided information on abortion bill reversal, currently required by Kentucky law.

In recent months, we have presented an overview of the Humanity in Healthcare Act 2022 before two interim legislative committee hearings and on KET Kentucky Tonight.

Kentucky Right to Life is the oldest statewide ProLife organization serving and advocating for the protection of the unborn child and the most vulnerable in our midst. We are unwaveringly ProWoman and ProWomen’s Health and while we DO NOT advocate or promote abortion. We will not stand silently in the face of risky healthcare measures that hold little regard for the current or future health of Kentucky’s young girls and women.

Presentations by Rep. Nancy Tate and KRTL's Addia Wuchner were made before the Ky Interim Joint Committee on Health, Welfare & Family Services Hearing on Dec. 15. ObGyn Dr. Ingrid Skop joined the presentation virtually. Those opposed to the Bill also had opportunity to speak. Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and UofL were represented at the hearing. Learn more.

By law the Vital Statistics Branch must publish Ky’s abortion statistics for the calendar year by September 30. The 2020 Report shows an increase of 79 abortions at the EMW clinic over 2019. Planned Parenthood statistics were 368. This year the University of Kentucky healthcare system has been added.

The report shows that women ages 25-29 had the most abortions; in 2019 it was the 20-24 age group.

Black Lives Matter?

Of the 4,104 abortions in Ky in 2020, 1,418 or 35% were for black women, up 1% from 2019.

Once again, college-educated women led the way in numbers of abortions: 2,199 with 1-4 years of college, and those with 5+ years had three, but the educational level of 22 women was unknown. As well, of the 4,104 total abortions, only one (1) was classified as ‘necessary.’

This is a very troubling report with many statistics that require professional explanation. Please watch for a follow-up article by Addia.

It is interesting that the ACLU sued its buddy, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, to overturn the FDA regulation on the Abortion Pill that called for in-person physician oversight.

Was Becerra really opposed to this so that he needed to be taken to court?

As a team, the ACLU, the American College of ObGyns, and various other attorneys work together to achieve pro-abortion goals. If they need an Amicus brief, they round up their fellow Medical Associations and other pals, including the

• American Medical Association,
• American Academy of Family Physicians,
• American Society for Reproduce time Medicine,
• National Abortion Federation,
• North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology,
• National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health,
• Planned Parenthood,
• Reproductive Health Access Project—

Well, just see the full list here.

As you can tell, there is a team at work to undermine the law concerning when, where, how and by whom the Abortion Pill can be supplied.

The team includes expert witnesses who may identify as anonymous providers. And their testimonies are remarkably similar.

So, while it may appear as though the FDA simply agreed to new rules as a way of helping women during the Covid-19 environment, there is an army behind the effort to change the rules, and for us to think the old rule will apply at some future date is wishful thinking.

So now, what happens to Ky’s laws against distributing Abortion Pills by mail, by webcam, using federal funds, and always reporting any complications? How can our law be enforced that requires women to be advised upon receiving the Abortion Pill that it can be reversed?

Will the federal rulings dismantle Ky’s hard-won pro-life law victories?

We won’t take such change ‘sitting down’! KyRTL is on the move. Our executive director Addia Wuchner with our pro-life partners will work to maintain safety standards for women seeking abortions. Please join our effort by donating to KyRTL. Watch for more details!

UPDATE on Jan. 12, 2021

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the Trump administration’s request for the reinstatement of the FDA rules requiring an in-person doctor visit before a woman obtains abortion pills.

LifeNews stated: The dangers of de-regulating the abortion drugs are serious, and the consequences are being seen in England. In March, the British government temporarily allowed the abortion drugs to be mail-ordered during the pandemic. By July, reports began to surface of women dying after taking the drugs.

NRLC’s Carol Tobias said: “We are pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes the serious nature of chemical abortions and the need for the FDA to have protocols in place to protect women from potentially life-threatening and devastating side effects…”

LifeSiteNews predicted: The SCOTUS ruling is premised on the federal government having the power to decide FDA regulations… it is all but certain that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will suspend or permanently scrap the basic health and safety regulation soon after taking power.

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ORIGINAL POST

With the October 8 decision by the Supreme Court to allow abortion pills to be sold by mail AGAINST FDA REGULATIONS, there are sure to be many home abortions until the matter is fully decided. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

The district court judge who ruled that the pandemic makes it necessary for women (nationwide) to get pills without seeing a doctor in person has been advised by SCOTUS to “review his ruling and issue a new order within 40 days.” The case will then be revisited, and as stated on the SCOTUS blog, by the time … the proceedings return to the Supreme Court, the court may have welcomed a ninth member.

The SCOTUS blog further noted that “Thursday’s order may well reflect a compromise in the wake of the Sept. 18 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which left the court with only eight members.” This makes it sound like RBG’s death was honored by letting women handle their own abortions, a pathetic footnote in the annals of abortion lore.

As reported in the recently published 2019 abortion statistics, of 3,664 abortions performed in Ky, 3,249 were done when the pre-born baby was from 1-10 weeks gestation.

On the Planned Parenthood website, it is stated:

• For people who are 9-10 weeks pregnant, it [the abortion pill] works about 91-93 out of 100 times. If you're given an extra dose of medicine, it works about 99 out of 100 times.
• For people who are 10-11 weeks pregnant, it works about 87 out of 100 times. If you're given an extra dose of medicine, it works about 98 out of 100 times.
• The abortion pill usually works, but if it doesn’t, you can take more medicine or have an in-clinic abortion to complete the abortion.

Note, the FDA rules require that the abortion pill be provided in-person by a medical professional to a woman UP TO 10 WEEKS of pregnancy. So, why does PP stretch it to 11 weeks?

Medical abortion not a new trend

It seems likely that many of Ky’s abortions are already done at home. But at least up to last week, the woman was required to see a physician in a clinic for evaluation and some emergency assistance. And, by law, the doctor was required to tell the patient about the Abortion Reversal Pill. That law passed in Ky in 2019. Some ladies have reported that they were never told about it. We doubt that the advisory will be included with the abortion pills received by mail.

For a time, and perhaps from now on, abortion is a DIY, do-it-yourself procedure.

How can we spread the GOOD word that a medical abortion can be reversed?

Know the facts! When you have the opportunity to share information, be sure your friends and acquaintances learn that if a woman changes her mind after taking the abortion pill, she can go online to AbortionPillReversal.com. She should call the Emergency Phone, 877.558.0333.

Currently, this service can recommend one pregnancy center and three physicians in Kentucky who are in the Abortion Pill Rescue Network and able to prescribe progesterone to a client wishing to reverse an abortion.

This is a safe procedure. See more information here.

Share this important news!

Christina Francis, MD and Donna Harrison, MD | aaplog.org | Dec 11 2019

A study just published in the Green Journal (Journal of the American College of OB/GYN’s) was terminated early due to supposed safety concerns. This study was aimed at examining the efficacy and safety of a now well used protocol for abortion pill rescue (or APR). APR provides the possibility to save the unborn child if women change their mind after taking the first medication (mifepristone) of two that are involved with a medication abortion. After having three patients enrolled in the study require ambulance transfer — two of whom required emergency surgery with one also requiring a transfusion — the authors stopped the study due to “safety concerns”. However, a more thorough review of their data tells a different story.

First, what they fail to emphasize is the difference in the women who required transfer. Two out of the three patients were from the placebo group – not the group that received progesterone (the APR group)

Read more. | Pdf

Please also see the KRLA Forum article on Kentucky’s new law that requires abortionists to inform patients about the Abortion Reversal Pill.

In Kentucky, most new laws take effect 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session. Thursday, June 27, was the big day for 2019.

Of four new pro-life statutes, the Heartbeat and Anti-Eugenics laws were immediately blocked by ACLU legal challenges. HB 148 requiring that abortion end if and when Roe v. Wade is overturned, cannot yet be implemented.

Only one law was enacted on June 27, SB 50, and it got royal treatment in the C-J— The top headline across the cover page in the print version shouted: Abortion ‘reversal’ law is in effect.

This law requires a report of dispensing a prescription for Abortion Pills to the Vital Statistics branch within 15 days after the end of the month and an annual report with comparative data for other years. There are penalties for any provider failing to report or for submitting an incomplete report. Read more on page 2 of this pdf.

Additionally, the new section to our statutes requires abortion providers to tell patients that the process begun by the abortion pill may be reversed with a different medication.

The C-J stated that abortion providers already are required to report all abortions to the state Vital Statistics Branch. However, by specifying disclosure of prescriptions, there can be no doubt how many abortion were performed by surgery in an institution and how many were done at home by chemicals. (The abortion pill is approved by the FDAfor use to terminate a pregnancy during the first 10 weeks after the last menstrual period.)

Perhaps we will discover that many more abortions occur in Kentucky than have been reported. Is the figure actually around 3,000/year or really much higher?

The C-J stated that the Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) claim was disputed by the medical establishment. It quoted Dr. Nicole Nolan, an OB/Gyn at UofL Medical Center who testified against SB 50, and quoted spokespeople for the ACLU and Planned Parenthood who bragged that medical associations agree with them that APR is not supported by science.

How sad that many medical associations including the AMA line up with abortion providers.

The C-J did not quote any pro-life physicians who have successfully administered the Abortion Reversal Pills, nor any spokesperson for the American Association of Prolife OB/GYNS (AAPLOG). Nor were the views of KRLA or Kentucky Doctors for Life solicited.

Had their article been unbiased, it would have referenced a case series on the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health website that details 754 patients who attempted to reverse the medical abortion process, which demonstrated:

Intramuscular progesterone and high dose oral progesterone were the most effective with reversal rates of 64% (P < 0.001) and 68% (P < 0.001), respectively. There was no apparent increased risk of birth defects. Conclusions: The reversal of the effects of mifepristone using progesterone is safe and effective.

A “bonafide” clinical trial, very scientific, is in the works. Read here. This study will take 40 women who want a surgical abortion, give them the initial abortion pill and then either a placebo or progesterone; then check after two weeks which fetuses are still alive, after which they will have a surgical abortion. The PLACEBO COMPARISON is required by our medical establishment for their seal of approval on a clinical trial.

Is that really as convincing as the case series of 754 that showed which medication saved the most lives?

IMPORTANT: The new Section being added to our Ky. statutes ALSO REQUIRES THE REPORT TO REVEAL WHETHER ANY ABORTION COMPLICATION OCCURRED:

Abortion complications to be reported shall include only the following physical or psychological conditions arising from the induction or performance of an abortion:

• (a) Uterine laceration;
• (b) Cervical laceration;
• (c) Infection;
• (d) Heavy bleeding that causes symptoms of hypovolemia or the need for a blood transfusion;
• (e) Pulmonary embolism;
• (f) Deep vein thrombosis;
• (g) Failure to terminate the pregnancy;
• (h) Incomplete abortion or retained tissue;
• (i) Pelvic inflammatory disease;
• (j) Missed ectopic pregnancy;
• (k) Cardiac arrest;
• (l) Respiratory arrest;
• (m) Renal failure;
• (n) Shock;
• (o) Amniotic fluid embolism;
• (p) Coma;
• (q) Placenta Previa in subsequent pregnancies;
• (r) Pre-term delivery in subsequent pregnancies;
• (s) Free fluid in the abdomen;
• (t) Hemolytic reaction due to the administration of ABO-incompatible blood or 14 blood products;
• (u) Hypoglycemia occurring while the patient is being treated at the abortion 16 facility;
• (v) Allergic reaction to anesthesia or abortion-inducing drugs;
• (w) Psychological complications including depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and sleeping disorders;
• (x) Death; and
• (y) Any other adverse event as defined by criteria provided in the Food and Drug Administration Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program.

If any female considering a “safe, legal” abortion sees this list of potential complications, it may serve to dissuade her.

Kentucky law has many good restrictions on abortion for the emotional and physical health of the mother. These are restated in SB 50 (see pdf), to note where current law needs to reflect a change. Unfortunately providers can get around these in various ways. Nevertheless, Kentucky pro-lifers are making progress. Hats off to Sen. Robby Mills (R), Henderson, who sponsored the bill.

For any women who desire more information and immediate help, see the Abortion Pill Reversal website.

Thank You, Kentucky State Legislators and Governor Matt Bevin

The four bills that were introduced by Kentucky’s Pro-life Caucus on January 10 ALL passed the current legislative session. We know our Governor will sign them all!

SB 227, introduced on Feb. 15 to protect Born Alive Infants, did not make it to the finish line. We hope this bill will be re-introduced next year.

How does it feel to live in a pro-life state? Wonderful! What relief we pro-lifers feel (!), knowing that the majority of our legislators have the deepest concern for pre-born babies. Perhaps there are many things in your community and state that you would like to see changed, but at least we do have respect for life. The majority of us are holding firm that our U.S. Constitution means what it says about our Right to Life.

The bills, SB 9, the “heartbeat bill”; SB 50, abortion pill reporting requirements AND the doctor must explain the Abortion Pill Reversal Pill to the client; HB 5, no abortion for discriminatory reasons based on sex, race, color, national origin or disability; and HB 148, to end abortion if and when Roe v. Wade is overturned by SCOTUS— ALL had bipartisan support. That is further proof that Kentucky is, in the main, PRO-LIFE.

Will Kentucky be the first state NOT to have an abortion clinic? There is national speculation about that. With the ACLU challenges to our pro-life laws and bills not yet signed into law, we can’t say.

Currently we have only ONE, the EMW clinic in Louisville. And, Planned Parenthood has a clinic in Louisville with aggressive plans to establish a larger presence.

We can’t rest on our laurels but we can enjoy the moment. Today, we are passionately grateful and taking the day off. (But we are in the office!)

Enjoy the full testimony of Abby Johnson at the Public Protection Committee hearing.

SB 50 to require reporting of Abortion Pills prescribed and for the Dr. to inform the patient that the Abortion Pill can be REVERSED— was scheduled for passage in the House on Feb. 25, but … new amendments were introduced by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian. After all, it's just a joke, isn't it?

House Floor Amendment 2 - Establish a new section of KRS Chapter 213 to require a report of when a prescription is issued for any medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and any reported side effects to the Vital Statistics Branch within 15 days after the end of the month in which the prescription was issued.

House Floor Amendment 3 - Establish language to specify that all members of the General Assembly shall be responsible to pay specified court costs and fees related to certain abortion litigation.

House Floor Amendment 4 - Amend the title to read as follows: "AN ACT relating to reproductive medical information."

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Rep. Marzian also slowed the passage of HB 5 with an amendment:

An unborn child residing in the Commonwealth shall have all constitutional rights and responsibilities as a citizen in the Commonwealth including but not limited to the right to public education, to pay taxes, to receive social security, to free speech, to inherit, to a trial by jury, and to peaceful assembly.

 

SB 50, Abortion Pill Reporting Requirements— to report dispensing a prescription for RU-486 …or any other drug …intended to end a pregnancy to the Vital Statistics Branch within 15 days after the end of the month (see full text), has some good additions:

(1) Amend to add that information on the potential ability of a physician to reverse the effects of prescription drugs for the induction of abortion be provided with each prescription; (2) require that potential abortion complications be reported to the Vital Statistics Branch; (3) amend KRS 311.725 to require that physicians verbally inform women on potential ability of a physician to reverse the effects of prescription drugs for the induction of abortion.

Reference: Kentucky Legislature website

The Life Issues Institute has posted a new video with in-depth testimony and information about the abortion pill procedure. Did you know it can be more risky than surgical abortion?

Hats off to Brad Mattes, president of the institute. Brad was the featured speaker for the Celebration of Life Banquet in 2016.