The Kentucky legislative session ended Thursday with pro-abortion lawmakers failing to pass any bills to legalize the killing of unborn babies in abortions again.
Pro-life Republicans, who control the state legislature, refused to even consider bills by Democrats and one Republican to get rid of the ban on elective abortions or add exceptions that would have allowed unborn babies to be aborted in certain circumstances for non-medical reasons, according to the Associated Press.
As a result, thousands of unborn babies’ lives are being protected by the state law every year. Approximately 4,000 unborn babies were aborted annually in Kentucky under Roe v. Wade.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe in June, Kentucky and more than a dozen other states began enforcing laws that protect unborn babies by banning or strictly limiting elective abortions. Many are facing legal challenges by pro-abortion groups, but, in Kentucky, the state Supreme Court refused to block the law.
This spring, pro-abortion lawmakers tried to pass bills to allow elective abortions again, but none made it past the committee level, quashing abortion activists’ hopes. according to the AP.
One Democrat, state Rep. Lindsey Burke, said she had hoped her bill to allow legalized abortions again would pass after voters rejected a pro-life state constitutional amendment in November.
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“Kentucky voters spoke loud and clear last November,” Burke told the news outlet. “If passing my bill was not possible, then I definitely think more should have been done to carve out at least some exemptions.”
Although voters did reject the amendment, which would have made it clear there is no right to abort an unborn baby in the Kentucky Constitution, they also elected a strong majority of pro-life lawmakers to the legislature.
Prior to the election, pro-abortion groups spent huge amounts of money trying to convince voters to reject the amendment, a lot of it coming from out-of-state abortion activists to fund misleading campaign ads that deceived voters.
State Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, who is pro-life, told the AP that he believes the amendment failed, not because Kentuckians aren’t pro-life, but because abortion activists “scared” them with false information.
“I saw it more as the opposing campaign ran a better campaign that scared people into voting ‘no,’” Thayer said.
Currently, 14 states are enforcing pro-life laws that ban or strictly limit abortions, and more are fighting in court to do the same.
All pro-life laws allow abortions when the mother’s life is at risk and, in some states, cases of rape and incest. These make up a very small percent of all abortions in the U.S. Research from the Charlotte Lozier Institute found about 96 percent of abortions are for purely elective reasons.
In June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in a historic victory for life and returned the power to legislate abortion to the people. Because of Dobbs v. Jackson, states may protect unborn babies from abortion for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Two recent polls show growing public support for legal protections for unborn babies. A Marist College poll found 69 percent of Americans support limiting or banning abortions, up from 62 percent in June. Another new poll from UMass Amherst found a 5-percent drop in those who say Congress should pass a law to make abortions legal nation-wide and a 6-percent increase in support for a national abortion ban, WCVB News reports.
