WASHINGTON — Last night, the Republican-controlled legislature in Kentucky overrode the Democratic Governor’s veto to pass a bill to outlaw abortion after 15 weeks, modeled after the Mississippi law currently in front of the Supreme Court and potential lynchpin for gutting Roe. This legislation would force the only two clinics in the state to cease providing abortions and effectively bans all abortions in the state. This massive assault on reproductive freedom also contains no exceptions for incest or rape.
“This abortion ban from the Kentucky GOP is part of a coordinated effort by national Republicans to outlaw abortion across the country,” said DLCC vice president of communications Gabrielle Chew. “The American people have the right to choose what they do with their bodies, not Republican politicians who will stop at nothing to restrict our freedom and drag this country backward. In the face of this conservative Supreme Court, state legislatures are the last line of defense against the GOP’s extremism, and we must defend and expand Democratic majorities to stop these attacks.”
Kentucky will be the first state to immediately stop all abortion procedures with the Mississippi-style 15 week abortion ban. In Florida and Arizona, 15 week abortion bans have been signed into law and will go into effect this summer. If the Supreme Court guts Roe, the fate of abortion rights will fall to the states. 26 states are expected to ban abortion because of new restrictions passed by Republican-controlled legislatures or pre-existing abortion bans that would go into effect. The DLCC has launched the “States to Save Roe” campaign to help Democrats and the DLCC fight back against Republican attacks on abortion rights and to protect Democratic chambers that serve as a firewall for access to reproductive health care and services.
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