New abortion-related fight in Kentucky heats up over fetal heartbeats
Source: Associated Press
"This is certainly the most blatant attempt to take aim at Roe vs. Wade," a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday.
Jan. 9, 2019, 8:11 PM CST
By Associated Press
FRANKFORT, Ky.— Already mired in three lawsuits over abortion restrictions, Kentucky lawmakers are ratcheting up the stakes with a new bill to ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
As a new legislative session opens, the measure appeared to be on a fast track in the Republican-dominated state Senate. The American Civil Liberties Union, the state's adversary in the ongoing courthouse fights, warns the heartbeat bill would prohibit most abortions in Kentucky and would immediately trigger a legal challenge.
"It's blatantly unconstitutional," ACLU attorney Brigitte Amiri said Wednesday, a day after the measure was introduced by lawmakers. "This is certainly the most blatant attempt to take aim at Roe vs. Wade. It's extreme. It's yet again anti-abortion politicians trying to push abortion out of reach for women in this state."
Kentucky's bill is at odds with the legal standard set by the Supreme Court in its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which prohibits states from banning abortions before viability. But the Kentucky proposal is among a series of measures introduced by abortion opponents who hope the Supreme Court will be more receptive to limiting abortion rights now that Justice Anthony Kennedy, a key vote to preserve abortion rights, has retired.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-abortion-related-fight-kentucky-heats-over-fetal-heartbeats-n956966
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