Kentucky’s abortion ban would move from 20 weeks to 15 under Senate Bill 321

by Dave Andrusko, NRLC Communications

By a vote of 8-2, Kentucky’s Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday passed a measure that would lower the maximum age an abortion can be performed from 20 weeks down to 15 weeks.

Amidst criticism that the bill, SB 321, is not necessary, sponsor Sen. Max Wise said passage is important “because it mirrors a Mississippi law that is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court in a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision establishing abortion as a constitutional right,” reported Deborah Yetter, Louisville Courier Journal.  Sen. Wise said, “If the Supreme Court upholds Mississippi’s law, we would have a law in place.”

Read more.

Addia Wuchner, executive director of KRTL, testified as a Ky RN, clarifying when a fetus can be seen on ultrasound to recoil from the a painful stimulus. She noted in the Senate hearing that the bill is “another step as we move forward in protecting those who do not have a voice for themselves, Kentucky’s unborn children.”

Watch the full hearing on KET.org. Passionate pleas from abortion supporters were delivered, but the bill was ‘reported favorably’.

Top: Tamara Weider, Ky state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates; Sen. Karen Berg, D-26, one of two ‘no’ votes. Bottom: Addia, Sen. Max Wise, D-16.