ProLife Friends, Mission Accomplished!

by Addia Wuchner, Executive Director, KRTL

House Bill 3, the Humanity in Healthcare Act— our ‘6 ProLife Bills in 1,’ has passed, and Secretary of State Adams will sign it into law. The Secretary of State signs all bills into law when they have required an override of a Governor’s veto.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers this Session and your calls to Frankfort. Kentucky Right to Life is honored to serve as your voice in Frankfort, working with our House and Senate on prolife legislation.

House Bill 3 is the result of over a year’s work! We want to thank the entire Kentucky ProLife Caucus, and especially Representatives Tate (shown in the Rotunda), King, Prunty and Bechler in the House along with Senator Max Wise for his work on SB 321 and the 15-week abortion restriction, and Senator Alvarado.

A special thank you to KRTL members and friends for your calls this week asking your Legislators to vote “YES” to override the Governor’s veto on HB3!

It has been a long session and your legislators have worked extremely hard. When the final vote is cast and the gavel falls declaring Sine Die later today, the 2022 Legislative Session will be a wrap.

I have a favor to ask: Please take a moment to call Frankfort one more time, just to say, Thank you for the voting to override the HB3 veto! Please call the Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181.

Angry winds

As tornadic winds ripped across Kentucky last night, the anger from the pro-abortion advocates was also intensifying. The ACLU, EMW and Planned Parenthood all will challenge this legislation in court. They have raised truckloads of money to defeat HB3.

Kentucky is a battleground state. To quote from today's Courier-Journal, "Final passage of HB 3 makes Kentucky the first state to end all access to abortion..." Read More.

We take pride in that, however, we know that it makes our opponents even more determined to defeat our powerful legislation.

The VETO Override Senate voting history is shown in the picture above and the House vote is on this page. The asterisk indicates the Senator is a Republican. Also shown is a screenshot from the New York Times that reminds why we are fighting so hard.

Did you know?

House Bill 3 updates the sections of Kentucky law impacted by Judicial ByPass (Federal Law provisions since 1979) making clear that the Court must consider all information, including whether the minor child is a victim of sexual abuse by one or both of her parents, or another individual. This speaks to the issues of rape and incest.

HB3 will not end abortion in Kentucky, but restricts it to 15 weeks and bans mail-order abortions. This Bill reflects the General Assembly’s commitment to Kentucky’s most vulnerable citizens. It shows the legislators' dedication in advocating for justice and safe healthcare practices for unborn children and their mothers.

"The scramble late Wednesday to try to block the law was similar to that of 2019, when lawmakers passed a bill to ban abortions after six weeks and then-Gov. Matt Bevin, an anti-abortion Republican, signed it into law the same day.

"That forced EMW, then the state's only abortion provider, to cancel appointments and suspend abortions for a day until the law was blocked by a federal judge. That law remains suspended while the legal challenge is pending." (ibid, C-J)

We know a fight is imminent, but for today, let’s focus on thanking our legislators and celebrating the HB3 victory in the State House!