Update on Buffer Zone

5:19 PM | July 15, 2021

“Kentucky Right to Life and all of our prowoman prolife advocates are pleased that our pursuit of litigation has resulted in the city permitting sidewalk counseling ministry to continue by extending the temporary emergency injunction as we await Judge Jennings’ decision on the matter” - Addia Wuchner, Executive Director, Kentucky Right to Life.

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TESSA REDMOND | July 8, 2021 | Kentucky Today

Louisville Metro Government calls for summary judgment in ‘buffer zone’ lawsuit

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – Louisville Metro Government filed the final brief regarding its motion to dismiss a pro-life lawsuit opposing the contentious “buffer zone” ordinance on Wednesday.

The lawsuit was first filed on June 8 by Ky Right to Life and Sisters for Life, a pro-life sidewalk counseling ministry, on the grounds that the ordinance infringed upon their constitutional rights of free speech and free exercise of religion. Attorneys reached a temporary agreement until July 16, when the buffer zone surrounding the EMW Women’s Surgical Center, one of two women’s health clinics providing abortions in the state, will go into effect.

This final brief, submitted by Jefferson County Attorney Michael O’Connell, follows both a memorandum opposing the city’s motion and a reply seeking injunctive relief, which was filed by the plaintiffs in Western District Court on June 28.

“The Ordinance does not violate or substantially burden any of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights,” the brief read.

“The Ordinance creates time, place and manner restrictions on speech and assembly outside of healthcare facilities to ensure the safety of patients entering and exiting such facilities and to provide enforcement officers with bright-line rules which are both significant and legitimate government interests.”

In response to the lawsuit’s allegation that the ordinance is overbroad and restricts religious, pro-life speech, the brief claims the ordinance is content-neutral — meaning it “does not attempt to regulate the content of any individual’s speech” within the buffer zone outside of the EMW.

“Any restriction of plaintiff’s speech, freedom of assembly, and free exercise of religion are minimal and justified by the government’s significant interest in the subject Ordinance,” the brief read.

Under the ordinance, healthcare facilities are not required to establish buffer zones and must request one from Public Works. According to the brief, the EMW is the only facility to request the ordinance “given the unique and long history of violence and harassment at this location.”

Addia Wuchner, executive director of Ky Right to Life, stated there is a difference between sidewalk counseling ministry and protesting, which Metro Government identified as “assault, harassment, stalking and intimidation” in its reply.

“Our case is defending the right of sidewalk counselors, which is a ministry, to meet women and to present them with alternatives at a very critical moment in their life,” Wuchner said. “The buffer zone prevents that opportunity for more intimate communication.”

Read more.

On Monday, June 14, Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed a brief before the United States Supreme Court in support of his defense of House Bill 454, Kentucky’s law prohibiting live-dismemberment abortions. Read his full statement here.

A year and a half ago the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court heard the arguments for and against HB454. A media event organized by our current executive director raised public awareness about the legal case, how babies are aborted, and AG Cameron’s defense of the Ky law. At that news conference AG Cameron promised to pursue the case to SCOTUS if the Appeal was denied, which it was about this time last year. Learn more here. Following is a statement by Addia Kathryn Wuchner on AG Cameron’s bold stand.

As a former Kentucky state representative and the author and sponsor of ‘HB 454, The Human Rights of the Child Act Banning Live Dismemberment Abortions,’ and as Executive Director of Kentucky Right to Life, we are grateful and stand in full support of Attorney General Daniel Cameron and his unwavering commitment to the defense of life.

In January 2020, outside the US Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, at our joint press conference, AG Cameron publicly affirmed that he would defend human life and appeal the case to the Supreme Court if necessary. Thank you for being a leader of integrity and a man of your word!

HB 454 banning live dismemberment abortions in Kentucky reflects the judgment of the citizens of our Commonwealth that certain abortion practices are so barbaric and gruesome, they warrant exclusion from a civilized society.

Without a doubt, ultrasound affirms that “by the end of 10 weeks, the unborn child has fingers, hands, arms, toes, feet, legs, eyelids, and ears” — confirming that the unborn child is in fact a human being, and affirms our work in defending the ‘human rights’ of the child.

When we look at all the human rights injustices that deform our society and culture today, we are paralyzed in moving forward to address any of them, until we resolve the greatest human rights issues of our day: the basic right to life and the human rights of every child.

Further notes

• Many people do not know that Dilation and Evacuation Abortion is a surgical procedure during which the limbs and torso of a live, in-utero fetus are torn off by the abortionist's forceps, and the skull crushed. The fetus feels pain as early as 12 weeks, and the D&E abortion is performed beginning at 13 weeks.
• In 2018 when the ‘Dismemberment Abortion’ Legislation passed, science had ascertained that pain was felt by a fetus as early as 20 weeks. In 2017 the “Pain Capable” Law was passed in Ky, limiting the procedure of abortion to 20 weeks. The 12-week threshold was reported by the American College of Pediatricians earlier this year.
• Did you know that Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers at times facilitate a D&E abortion to deliver baby parts for use by research labs? This controversy was initially publicized by ABC News in 2000 and then further exposed by David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress in a series of videos starting in mid-2015, and his revelations landed him in a legal quagmire that continues today.
• The practice of using baby body parts in research, funded by taxpayers and the federal government, was restricted by former President Trump. His policy was repealed this past April, as reported on the KRLA Timeline.
• Read more about Ky’s Dismemberment Law on this website here and here.

THANK YOU PRO-LIFERS for turning out for the YES for LIFE Rally in Frankfort! Lawmakers spoke, and they and their supporters heard from a coalition of pro-life organizations encouraging passage of HB 91. Rep. Joe Fischer, the bill's sponsor, is shown addressing the group.

HB 91 has been added to the Orders of the Day by the Senate! Stay tuned.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron joined the Rally unexpectedly with a surprise announcement that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear Ky’s appeal regarding Dismemberment Abortion. Read more about this Ky law here.

WHAS, WLKY and WDRB covered the YES for LIFE Rally and the AG’s announcement. More pro-life news was featured online about the passage of Nancy Tate’s HB 155 to allow the use of a “newborn safety device” for anonymous surrendering of a newborn, and of Sen. Ralph Alvarado’s SB 12 to prohibit sales of human organ or tissue and for-profit procurement of eye or cornea tissue.

Watch the YES for LIFE Rally video and see the slideshow!

Kentucky Right to Life enters a new, exciting phase of its outreach and growth, led by Addia Wuchner.

Addia, a Louisville native, served in the House of Representatives, District 66, for Boone County and Kentucky citizens from 2005 until 2019. She was the first woman in Ky to be appointed Chair of the House Standing Committee on Health and Family Services.

She is an unwavering pro-life, pro-family and pro-woman advocate who has championed the human rights of the unborn child and women’s right to know, the healthcare right to make a completely informed decision before giving consent to abortion.

From the inception, drafting and presentation of the Ultrasound Bill (2017 Ky House Bill 2) to its final vindication by the U.S. Supreme Court, Addia promoted this critical piece of pro-life legislation across the finish line. For the first time in history, women who seek an abortion in Kentucky now must be given the opportunity to see who will be aborted and to hear the fetal heartbeat before a final decision is made.

In 2018 she penned The Human Rights of the Child Act - ‘Dismemberment Abortion’ bill, banning live dismemberment abortions in the Commonwealth. The 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower Court injunction, but Attorney General Cameron is committed to pursuing a challenge to the ruling.

During her tenure in the Kentucky General Assembly she served on the Economic Development and Workforce Committee, Banking and Insurance and Budget Subcommittee for Human Services Committee, Appropriations and Revenue, Education and Workforce Development, Tourism, Transportation, and numerous task forces and working groups including the Healthy Babies Council.

In 2006, Representative Wuchner worked tirelessly to ensure that her child pornography legislation became law, raising the offense of child pornography in Kentucky from a Misdemeanor to a Class D Felony.

In 2010 after months of work, her Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma Act, the “Shaken Baby Prevention” bill, passed and became model legislation for child abuse prevention.

Working across the aisle, in 2013 she co-sponsored HB 3, the Kentucky Human Trafficking Victims Right Act, which successfully passed, sending a clear message that this modern day slavery has no place in Kentucky.

A long-time advocate for dyslexia awareness and ensuring Kentucky students early identification and appropriate interventions, she championed both the 2012 Kentucky’s Response to Intervention Act and the 2018 Ready to Read Act.

Her dedication as a servant leader has also been demonstrated in her work as a businesswoman, bioethicist, registered nurse, community leader, and humanitarian mission director. She has placed her life in the service of others throughout the Commonwealth and abroad.

Thomas More University awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters in recognition of her overall contributions in bioethics, rights of the unborn, and international humanitarian aid.

Addia served six years on the Northern Kentucky Independent Health Department Board of Directors with passion and energy to improve both the economic and physical well-being of all Kentucky citizens, especially our most vulnerable citizens, children.

She is a member of the 2007 Class of Leadership Kentucky and is an alumni of the 2005 Toll Fellows Program (Quest for Excellence) which recognizes excellence in public leaders.

Addia is a Registered Nurse and has been a dedicated healthcare professional for over 36 years, recognized for her contributions in advancing the role of bioethics in healthcare and public policy. She began her career as a nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Louisville.

She served as Vice President of Strategic Planning for the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and Senior Director of Corporate Relations for the St. Luke Hospitals for eight years.

Her faith and mission-driven vision have taken her around the globe, at times to places few would venture. She was the founder and missions director for Project Wings Of Mercy, International Medical and Humanitarian Aid, completing nine missions to war-torn Bosnia and Croatia during the 1991-94 conflict.

Other missions include: medical aid and disaster relief to New Orleans following hurricane Katrina, annual specialty surgical missions to Mexico, and disaster relief missions to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Addia and her husband Jan have three children, 12 grandchildren and a lovable Wheaten Terrier named Buddy.

The happy expression, “Our prayers have been answered!” describes the KRLA board members’ delight in sharing this wonderful news with our members and friends. Special thanks go to the Search Committee headed by Louisville RTL President Cathie Young.

Addia officially joined KRLA on January 22, 2021, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.