By Gabriella Borter
(Reuters) -Kentucky lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks and contains several provisions that abortion rights advocates say could severely restrict or essentially end access to the procedure in the state.
The measure includes requirements that clinics say would make it too logistically difficult and expensive to operate, including that fetal remains be cremated or interred, and also calls for a combination birth-death or stillbirth certificate to be issued for each abortion.
Approved by the state Senate on Tuesday, the bill was previously passed by the House of Representatives. It is likely to be enacted even if Democratic Governor Andy Beshear vetoes it. The Senate Republicans’ supermajority could override a veto and make the law effective immediately.
Senators amended the bill on Tuesday to include a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That amendment will need to be approved by the House before the bill goes to the governor’s desk for consideration.
Two provisions in the legislation would hinder the state’s abortion clinics from operating, according to Planned Parenthood’s Kentucky state director Tamarra Wieder.
The first is a requirement that the state Board of Pharmacy certify providers who dispense abortion pills. That process could not feasibly happen as quickly as the law would take effect, Wieder told reporters earlier this month.
The second is a requirement that fetal remains be cremated or interred, which would place “unsustainable” logistical and cost burdens on the clinics, she said.
The bill also bans telehealth for medication abortions, requiring an in-person doctor visit for patients seeking to end their pregnancy by pill.
A group of abortion rights advocates protested the bill in the Senate chamber on Tuesday, briefly holding up the vote with chants of “Abortion is healthcare!”
Democratic state Senator Gerald Neal opposed the bill in debate. “Simply put, I don’t think it’s an appropriate role of the state to regulate a woman’s body,” he said, receiving applause from protesters in the gallery.
Republican state Senator Adrienne Southworth disagreed before casting her “yes” vote.
“Babies have such unheard voices that some of us have to stand up,” Southworth said.
Republican-led states like Kentucky are rapidly passing anti-abortion legislation this year, anticipating that the U.S. Supreme Court will reinstate a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi in the spring. The court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, expressed openness to Mississippi’s case during oral arguments in December.
The court’s decision could overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade precedent, which established the right to abortion before the fetus is viable, and pave the way for states to pass stricter bans.
(Reporting by Gabriella BorterEditing by Colleen Jenkins, Bill Berkrot and David Gregorio)
