Kentucky families celebrated Thursday as Gov. Matt Bevin signed a new law banning abortions after an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable.
Surrounded by children and parents, the Republican governor praised the new protections for unborn babies and mothers in the state, The Messenger-Inquirer reports. He also signed three additional pro-life bills into law during the signing ceremony at the Daviess County Courthouse.
“Government doesn’t give (life) to us, and government doesn’t have the right to take it away,” Bevin said. “This is a cause of great celebration. It’s celebrating the sanctity of human life.”
Two of the four laws already are being challenged by pro-abortion groups: Senate Bill 9, which bans abortions after an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable (about six weeks of pregnancy), and House Bill 5, which prohibits discriminatory abortions based on an unborn baby’s sex, race or disability.
The two other laws, Senate Bill 50 and House Bill 148, require abortionists to tell women that the abortion pill may be reversed and restore full legal protections to unborn babies when the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
Bevin, who has a strong pro-life record, said the abortion issue is “not that complicated,” according to the local news.
“The issue, frankly, isn’t about faith. It’s about science, medicine, morality,” he said. “It’s about who among us can justify taking an innocent life?”
He signed the bills surrounded by about 100 cheering families and lawmakers, the local news reports.
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The governor is running for re-election against pro-abortion Democrat Andy Beshear. The current state attorney general, Beshear has refused to do his job and defend state pro-life laws in court. A judge blocked the heartbeat law in March.
Last week, Gov. Bevin called out his opponent for accepting “blood money” from the man who runs the only abortion business in the state.
Bevin has a strong record of protecting unborn babies and mothers from abortion. He has cracked down on abortion clinics, ensuring that they meet basic health and safety regulations and making them stop abortions if they fail. In 2016, his administration took legal action against Planned Parenthood after its new Lexington facility began aborting unborn babies without a license. That facility still is prohibited from aborting unborn babies.
Currently, his administration is defending a decades-old law against a pro-abortion legal challenge. The law requires abortion facilities to have transfer agreements with local hospitals in case of patient emergencies.
Bevin’s administration has said that EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville is not in compliance with the law and therefore not adequately prepared to help patients if emergency complications arise. However, the courts have allowed the abortion facility to remain open while the court battle continues.
