Abortion activists launched a misleading ad this week to persuade Kentucky voters to oppose a state constitutional amendment that says aborting unborn babies is not a right.
The Courier Journal reports the ad from Protect Kentucky Access features the story of a woman named Courtney who says she had an abortion for medical reasons.
However, the TV ad falsely claims the constitutional amendment would put women’s lives at risk.
“Kentucky politicians don’t understand their mandate will put women’s lives at risk,” Courtney says in the ad. “Please, for our family and yours, vote no.”
However, the opposite is true. The amendment, if voters approve it in November, would protect women’s and unborn babies’ lives by ensuring a state law that bans abortions remains in place. The law allows exceptions if the mother’s life is at risk.
Amendment 2 would add language to the Kentucky Constitution to make it clear that aborting unborn babies is not a right and taxpayers should not be forced to pay for abortions. It states: “To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.”
Pro-life leaders with the Yes For Life campaign are working hard to expose lies and misleading information about the amendment.
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“This constitutional amendment reiterates that the constitution does not secure or protect the right to abortion or protect the funding of abortion,” Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, told the newspaper. It ensures “you do not have laws or radical judges making law from the bench.”
A recent Civiqs poll found 53 percent of Kentucky voters believe abortions should be illegal in most or all cases, compared to 43 percent who believe abortions should be legal in most or all cases.
However, pro-abortion activists are dumping huge amounts of money into the state to sway voters to oppose the amendment. According to the Courier Journal, Protect Kentucky Access reported raising almost $1.8 million while Yes For Life reported raising about $435,000 this year.
The pro-abortion campaign is expected to release several more ads attacking the amendment ahead of the November election.
Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Protect Kentucky Access, said the amendment would “mandate government control of our private decisions and pave the way for a permanent ban on abortion, with no exceptions.”
However, pro-life laws always allow exceptions if the mother’s life is at risk, and the pro-life movement has been clear about supporting such exceptions.
Abortion data shows almost all unborn babies are aborted for elective reasons. A recent Charlotte Lozier Analysis found almost 96 percent of abortions were for elective or unspecified reasons, while only about 4 percent were due to rape, incest, a fetal abnormality or risks to the mother’s life.
According to Kentucky Today, pro-life organizations with the Yes for Life Alliance have been holding training events and rallies to educate voters, and they plan to host a big rally in October in Frankfort.
They also set up a website, YesforLifeKY.com, with information and resources to help pro-life Kentuckians spread the word.
Pro-life advocates said the amendment will prevent activist judges from striking down state pro-life laws and forcing taxpayers to pay for abortions in Kentucky, as has happened in other states.
For example, in 2018, West Virginia voters passed a pro-life constitutional amendment after decades of being forced by a court ruling to fund elective abortions with their tax dollars. Tennessee approved a similar amendment in 2014, as did Louisiana in 2020.
Kentucky is one of 15 states that protects unborn babies by banning abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
In August, in a big victory for life, the Kentucky Supreme Court allowed the state to temporarily enforce its pro-life law. The ruling means the two abortion facilities, Planned Parenthood and EMW Clinic in Louisville, are not allowed to kill babies while the case moves forward.
