Congratulations to ALL Special Election Candidates for your successful campaigns!

We wish you All the Best as you step in to serve your districts and Ky. We look forward to working with Sarge Pollock-HD-51, Timmy Truett-HD-89, and Dr. Donald Douglas-SD-22!

Elections have consequences AND EVERY VOTE MATTERS! At Kentucky Right to Life, we know how true that is for the most vulnerable among us.

After consideration of the candidates and their responses on our KYRTL PAC Candidate Survey, the PAC endorsed the following candidates in the November 2nd Special Elections:

• Senate District 22 - seat formerly held by Senator Tom Buford (deceased). South Fayette County, Garrard County, Jessamine County, Mercer County, and Washington County: Dr. Donald Douglas
• House District 51 -seat formerly held by Representative Bam Carney (deceased). Taylor County and Adair County: Michael Pollack
• House District 89 -seat formerly held by Representative Robert Goforth (resigned). Jackson County, Laurel County, and Madison County (Berea area): Timothy Truett

image from RPK.org

To our friends and voters in the respective counties, we ask you to please join us in supporting these candidates with your vote.

Ours was a protest of disappointment directed at Mount St. Joseph, a Catholic University in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1920 by the Sisters of Charity. Wednesday evening we stood prayerfully, joining Cincinnati Right to Life, Students for Life from three states, along with many broken-hearted and upset alumni of the Mount in our protest of disappointment.

Mount St. Joseph knew the position of U.S. President Joe Biden on abortion, which even includes the destruction of the unborn with taxpayer dollars, when they extended the invitation and hosted his visit and nationally covered Town Hall, on this past Wednesday evening, July 21^st.

While Kentucky Right to Life is not affiliated with any particular religious or political organization, it is our mission to advance the culture of life, rooted in the truth about the human person. The position on the sanctity of human life is not unique to Catholic Church teaching, but is held by many denominations across the globe reflecting the fact that from the earliest times, Christians sharply distinguished themselves from surrounding pagan cultures by rejecting abortion and infanticide.

It is clear where President Biden stands on this fundamental matter which is in direct opposition to the position of the Catholic Church, affirmed in its Catechism which states: “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law” (CCC No. 2271).

It was such a dark departure for Mount St. Joe to host the event. This institution was founded in a faith that fundamentally believes every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person is made in the image and likeness of the living and holy God.

Kentucky Right to Life extends sincere appreciation to Archbishop Schnurr with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

“Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr has not been contacted by any involved party about the upcoming visit of President Joseph R. Biden to Cincinnati to participate in a CNN town hall meeting at Mount St. Joseph University. Archbishop Schnurr has therefore not been asked for, nor would he have granted, his approval for any such event to occur on Catholic premises. Mount St. Joseph University operates under the sponsorship of the  Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati …”

Radical pro-abortion Democrats are eager to defeat pro-life Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and take back the U.S. Senate. They are only a few seats away! If that were to happen, they would advance an agenda of abortion on demand and taxpayer funding of abortion. And they would be in a position to determine the fates of judicial nominees, including potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It may all come down to Kentucky!

Mitch McConnell is pro-life. He opposes abortion on demand and supports protection for unborn children. Mitch McConnell has been instrumental in advancing pro-life legislation, including the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

Mitch McConnell voted against taxpayer funding for abortion, and he voted against taxpayer funding of abortion providers.

By contrast, his opponent, Amy McGrath, supports a policy of abortion on demand, which allows abortion for any reason. McGrath opposes legislation to protect unborn children at 20 weeks, a point by which the unborn child is capable of experiencing great pain when being killed by dismemberment or other late abortion methods.

For more information on where the candidates stand, please see this comparison flyer.

National Democrats are spending BIG in Kentucky. We need to fight back! We would like to inform and turn out as many pro-life voters as we can. But we cannot go toe-to-toe with pro-abortion forces without your help. Please consider a donation to National Right to Life.

Kentucky’s General Assembly, under the leadership of Senate President Robert Stivers and Speaker of the House David Osborne, continued to meet despite the pandemic. It was a herculean effort.

They faced potential infection, harassment by those who did not want them to meet and those who wanted them to pass specific bills; they endured long hours and unanticipated meetings and discussions relating to dilemmas caused by COVID19.

The stress they experienced during this period would have injured their health, but they did it, and we applaud them. Let's follow their lead and sweat it out —whatever it takes to Get The Vote Out and to VOTE in the June 23 Primary.

Your vote will take extra effort this year

Gov. Beshear has stated that The State Board of Elections will send a postcard to each registered voter informing them of the ability and process to vote absentee by mail in the June 23 Primary. The Board of Elections will also create a secure online portal that will allow voters to request that an absentee ballot be mailed to them. (There are instructions to follow on this application for a ballot. Follow them carefully.)

If a person cannot mail in their ballot, then in-person absentee voting will be available, beginning on June 8. Voters will be prioritized by appointment. If you go in to a polling place you will be provided with PPE (masks, etc), and county clerks will implement procedures to limit direct contact between individuals. This could mean drive-through voting. There are numerous other requirements. See the full list here.

Be resolute!

Mail-in voting is known to lower voter “turnout” and increase vote fraud. A conservative publication noted recently: “Progressive organizations, many backed by billionaire activist George Soros, are at the front lines of a campaign advocating for a ‘vote by mail’ system in the upcoming presidential election, citing fears that the Chinese coronavirus pandemic makes it too dangerous to vote in person …President Donald Trump warned that voting by mail would hurt the Republican Party, lambasting Democrat proposals for more money in the coronavirus stimulus bill to fund absentee and vote-by-mail options…”

In Kentucky’s favor, however, is our super, pro-life Secretary of State Michael Adams. He has fought for concessions in the process that will allow in-person voting. He recently tweeted: “Rather than vote-by-mail, we don't mail out ballots to the voter file. We require an application with proof of identity (not a Photo ID; SB 2 takes effect after the primary) to get an absentee ballot.”

No matter what the hassle or strain, your pro-life vote is critical! Look for your postcard; don’t fail to vote!

image from Pixabay.com by David Bruyland

A team of pro-life leaders met in Frankfort last week to perform triage on the bills that have been introduced by our wonderful representatives and senators. Some bills have moved along further than others. Which bill is most important to pass?

HB 67 is sponsored by Rep. Joe Fischer and 30 other House Republicans! The large number of fellow Republicans who have co-sponsored the bill shows it is considered to be IMPORTANT.

This bill would create a new section of the Constitution of Kentucky stating that it does not secure or protect a right to abortion or funding of abortion. This would be accomplished by an amendment to our Constitution. The public would vote to approve this amendment next November if it passes the legislature.

The committee that will hear the arguments is the House Elections, Constitutional  Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee. See the Republican members here for their email address, legislative phone number, and twitter handle, if known.

With our strong pro-life constituents who have elected pro-life legislators, now is the time to defend innocent human life through a Constitutional Amendment to ban abortion or any funding of it. If Roe v. Wade is weakened or banned by SCOTUS, this amendment will state our case.

Please take a moment to contact the committee members to hear HB67 and pass it on to the House Floor. Leave a message for your legislators by calling the Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181. Thank you!

On January 9^th, HB224 was introduced by Democrat Mary Lou Marzian to create a right to Assisted Suicide.

Current law, under Kentucky Statute 216.302 (2), states that a person commits a Class D felony when they assist another person to commit or attempt to commit suicide, knowingly and intentionally. This has been a Kentucky law since July 1994, and KRLA worked hard lobbying for it.

The Marzian bill does not require the physician to comply and does not authorize “active euthanasia,” but what exactly does that mean?

With 12 Republicans and only seven Democrats on the Health and Family Services committee, we will be surprised if this bill ever gets to the floor of the House.

It is interesting that there is also a bill, SB42, to require that a national suicide prevention hotline number be printed on a student ID badge (with other crisis numbers).

Though these bills are dissimilar in purpose, it has been proven in studies that persons of any age are more susceptible to suicide when Assisted Suicide Laws are passed. This makes sense. Many people also assume that since abortion is legal, it must be OK.

In our Culture of Death, it is critically important for leaders to stand for Life and lobby against legislation that weakens Respect for Life. Leaders are responsible for setting high standards.

The 2020 Regular Session began January 7 and ends April 15. The last day a new bill can be introduced is March 2 in the House and in the Senate, March 3. See the Legislative Calendar here.

A number of bills have been introduced. To find out what your State senators and representatives will hear or debate during the session, go here and click on the Orders of the Day posted for the respective entities.

Following are bills that will interest pro-lifers:

➀ SB9 "Born-Alive Infant Protection Act" - Introduced by Sen. Whitney Westerfield— same bill as SB227 in 2019, is to “Create new sections of KRS Chapter 311 to prohibit a person from denying or depriving a born-alive infant of nourishment with the intent to cause or allow the death of the infant; …” This bill passed the Senate on Jan. 27.

SB9 would also formalize that any born-alive infant shall be treated as a legal person in state statutes. Another provision would ban scientific research on born-alive infants.

At the EMW, Kentucky’s only abortion clinic, abortions are performed up to 22 weeks, and if a child were (miraculously) born alive it would need the resources of a hospital to survive. The bill is a strong statement that differentiates Kentucky from states such as New York whose laws permit leaving the born-alive baby to die. If abortions are being performed in any Kentucky hospitals, this bill would apply.

AN ASIDE: The “Pain-Capable” Kentucky Law that passed in 2017 states that a child can feel pain at 20 weeks post fertilization, but the statute defines the time frame in this way: “Pain-capable unborn child” means an unborn child of a probable post-fertilization age of twenty (20) weeks or more; The EMW took full advantage of the “or more” wording, and does abortions up to “21 weeks and 6 days”— or 22 weeks minus Sunday when it is closed.

➁ HB142 is “AN ACT prohibiting the payment of public agency funds to any entity that performs, induces, refers for, or counsels in favor of abortions.” Sponsored by Rep. Lynn Bechler and four other Republicans, it extends current legislation to prevent public funds from going to entities that refer or counsel in favor of abortion.

➂ HB67, sponsored by Rep. Joe Fischer and 36 other House Republicans, would create a new section of the Constitution of Kentucky stating that it does not secure or protect a right to abortion or funding of abortion. This would be accomplished by an amendment to our Constitution. The public would vote on this next November if it passes the legislature.

➃ SB90, sponsored by Sen. Stephen Meredith and four other Republicans, creates a new section of KRS Chapter 344 to protect the conscience rights of medical providers.

The bill defines terms; prohibits discrimination against medical care providers who decline to perform procedures that violate their conscience; grants providers the right not to participate in or pay for services that violate their conscience; exempts providers from liability for exercising these rights; and establishes a civil cause of action for persons injured by violations of these provisions.

➄ HB370, sponsored by Rep. Nancy Tate and four other Republicans. The statute would become part of the Ky. Revised Statutes (311.710 - 311.830). This bill requires that “Within 24 hours after a spontaneous miscarriage or an abortion, the hospital or abortion facility shall (a) Disclose to the parent or parents of the fetus, both orally and in writing, the parents' right to determine the final disposition of the fetal remains; and (b) Provide the parent or parents of the fetus with written information concerning the available options for disposition of the fetal remains… (more).” We will link to this Bill when it is posted.

➅ HB391, sponsored by Rep. Stan Lee and three other Republicans. Amends KRS 213.101, relating to abortion reporting requirements, to allow the Auditor of Public Accounts to perform an annual audit.

➆ HB398, sponsored by Rep. Steve Sheldon and 18 other Republicans. Compliance and reporting requirements for pharmacy benefit managers administering Medicaid benefits, more; abortion cited.

➇ HB400, sponsored by Rep. Steve Sheldon and 18 other Republicans. Definitions and prohibitions on Pharmacy coverages by insurance, more; abortion cited.

➈ HB451, sponsored by Rep. Stan Lee and other House Republicans, would give the Attorney General more power to investigate and punish violations of state laws governing abortion clinics. These have been violated so they are being restated.

As we become aware of pro-life bills, we will update this post. You can watch the legislative proceedings on KET TV.

This Friday’s March for Life, held annually to mourn the anniversary of the devastating Roe v. Wade ruling— Jan. 22,1973— remains the grassroots’ single most salutary moment in the struggle to end abortion and restore legal protection for unborn children.

The March’s 2020 theme, “Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman” showcases the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution guaranteeing women the right to vote. We know much of the credit for women’s equality at the ballot box goes to Susan B. Anthony and other feminist trailblazers, like Elizabeth Lady Stanton and Alice Paul. What many Americans don’t know, though, is that Anthony and her feminist counterparts were passionately pro-life!

These heroines of the early feminist movement branded abortion “the ultimate exploitation of women.”

They not only recognized the rights of our smallest children (in the womb), but they knew at its core abortion harmed women — physically, emotionally and spiritually. Anthony referred to the “horrible crime of child-murder” when referring to abortion in her publication, “The Revolution.”

Lesser-known feminists of that era, like Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman medical doctor in the U.S., said she chose her profession, in part, because of her hatred for abortion. Repulsed that the term “female physician” was applied to abortionists (operating illegally at the time), Blackwell penned in her diary, “The gross perversion and destruction of motherhood by the abortionist filled me with indignation, and awakened active antagonism.”

Like the leading 19th century feminists who opposed abortion for its taking of innocent life, today’s Feminists for Life and their allies view abortion as a major impediment to full social equality. In the words of feminist author and psychologist Sidney Callahan, “Women will never climb to equality and social empowerment over the mounds of dead fetuses.”

Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” in Roe v. Wade, devoted the last 20 years of her life to undoing Roe v. Wade, and “the lies” she said it was based on. Chief among them —being duped into saying she was raped and needed an abortion. But Norma was never raped, and by the time Roe was decided, had already placed her baby (a girl) for adoption.

McCorvey, along with Sandra Cano, the “Mary Doe” in Doe v. Bolton (the companion case to Roe), who deeply regretted her abortion, tried unsuccessfully to get the Supreme Court to rehear the landmark decision, a ruling that legalized abortion through all nine months of a women’s pregnancy for virtually any reason.

Since 1973, more than 60 million babies (half of them girls) have been destroyed by abortion.

As pro-lifers flood the streets of Washington for the 47th straight year, evidence mounts weekly of an industry run amok, with supporters unhinged to the breaking point.

In 2019 alone, 100 reports of assault, vandalism and harassment against peaceful pro-lifers were recorded across the nation.

The ghastly remains of more than 2,400 aborted babies in Hoosier abortionist Ulrich Klopfer’s garage and car trunk surfaced unexpectedly in the fall.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill’s subsequent probe, coming only after Klopfer’s death, brought to light the sleazy abortionist’s revoked medical license from 2016 for “poor record keeping, failure to provide anesthesia to patients, and performing abortions on thirteen year old patients.”

Ongoing attempts to drag the abortion industry out of the shadows, to expose its track record of botched abortions and the scarring of women, has been hampered by a media, by and large, grounded in pro-abortion bias.

Thankfully, President Trump and 200 federal lawmakers realizing the gravity of the abortion nightmare have filed amicus curiae briefs urging the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v. Wade.

In the Louisiana case of June Medical Services v. Gee, to be argued in March, the stories of 2,600 women hurt by the abortion industry will be on trial as the justices consider whether abortionists must have hospital admitting privileges to treat patient emergency complications.

Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins senses what’s at stake: “The Supreme Court now has a chance to reconsider, reverse, and return the issue of abortion to the American people, (where) states should absolutely have the right to pass their own health and safety standards designed to protect women inside abortion vendors.”

Schu Montgomery is a member of the board of directors for Right to Life of Louisville.

Rally draws large turnout from across Kentucky!

The venue was called "the People's House" by Daniel Cameron who promised to support all pro-life legislation and pursue successful passage of pro-life laws all the way to the Supreme Court if nededed! Excellent speeches by Secretary of State Michael Adams, Treasurer Allison Ball, Auditor Mike Harmon, Senate leader Robert Stivers, House leader David Osborne and many others were also enjoyed.

See the slideshow. | Watch KRLA's Facebook and Twitter pages for legislative news.
Media coverage:

Lawmakers at Rally for Life say they will continue fight for voiceless

Hundreds rally for Right to Life as Gov. Beshear opens doors for Planned Parenthood

Abortion opponents find ally in new attorney general

“All we are saying is give LIFE a chance!”

Echoes from a bygone anthem (“Give PEACE a chance”) reverberate through many a state capitol rotunda these days as the quest for peace —peace in the womb— grows ever louder.Once the safest place for an unborn child, a mother’s womb has too often become the killing fields.

Our astute Gov. Matt Bevin articulately stated on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight recently that the reason a flurry of legislatures and governors have stepped up their defense of innocent human life with bills challenging Roe v. Wade is because “people are appropriately outraged” that whole “generations of children” are being wiped out — all in the name of “reproductive freedom” or “choice” (certainly misnomers for those hellbent on annihilating little ones in the womb).

More than 60 million preborn babies have lost their lives since Roe’s companion case, Doe v. Bolton, stripped the states (and, therefore, the people) from protecting the preborn during all nine months of a woman’s pregnancy for reasons of “health,” not medical necessity. “Health,” the court so broadly mandated must include the “physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age.”

"With the insanity coming out of New York and Virginia … where you got lawmakers and governors basically advocating and celebrating abortion on demand, the country needs to know that there are still some sane people In this world in public office,” said Mississippi State Sen. Angela Hill. Mississippi has joined Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and most recently, Missouri, among others before this year, in passing heartbeat bills. Read more.

As HB 5 was signed into law, we celebrated, but we’re a day behind on this one: World Down Syndrome Day was March 21! This video brings the world’s blindness on this issue into focus.