FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2022
Contact: Mary Owens, [email protected]
Safeguards Against Dangerous Mail-Order Abortion Drugs & Limits on Late Abortions Pass KY Legislature by Overwhelming Margins
Washington, D.C. – The national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) celebrated the Kentucky Legislature’s passage of legislation to limit late abortions after 15 weeks, stop dangerous mail-order abortion drugs, and other pro-life protections.
Authored by State Rep. Nancy Tate (R-27), H.B. 3 increases medical oversight of the dispensation of chemical abortion drugs, requires the humane disposition of fetal remains, strengthens legal protections for minor girls, stops taxpayer-funded abortion, and enhances data reporting requirements surrounding abortion. As amended, H.B. 3 also limits abortions after 15 weeks, a point when science shows unborn children can feel pain. The bill passed the state Senate 29-7 with the House concurring 74-19.
Charlotte Lozier Institute, SBA List’s research arm, estimates that 344 abortions at 15 weeks’ gestation or later were performed in Kentucky in 2020.
SBA List State Policy Director Sue Liebel praised the legislature and urged Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to sign the bill:
“The people of Kentucky, speaking through their legislature, clearly and overwhelmingly support stronger protections for women and children. Abortion drugs are not safe for unborn babies or their mothers, sending women to emergency rooms at a 500% higher rate since the early 2000s as their use has exploded. Science also informs us that unborn children can feel excruciating pain by at least 15 weeks, a point by which 47 out of 50 European nations disallow abortion on demand. Yet the United States is one of a handful of nations, including China and North Korea, that allow abortion on demand more than halfway through pregnancy – in fact right up to birth. Strong majorities of Americans want to modernize our laws.
“We thank our National Pro-Life Caucus member Rep. Nancy Tate and all our local allies for their tireless efforts to save lives and guard women’s health and safety. We urge Gov. Beshear to put his own pro-abortion extremism aside and heed the will of the people. If necessary, we support a veto override.”
In 2021 the Biden administration moved to weaken longstanding federal safety regulations against mail-order abortion drugs, a policy that allows for dangerous at-home, do-it-yourself abortions without necessary medical oversight.
A recent, first-of-its-kind study published in the journal Health Services and Managerial Epidemiology found that the rate of abortion-related emergency room visits following a chemical abortion increased by more than 500% from 2002 through 2015. In the last year Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas have enacted state-level safeguards against mail-order abortion drugs, with additional states considering action.
SBA List is a network of 900,000 pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.
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