[On Nov. 8, Kentucky will vote on a constitutional
amendment which, if approved, would eliminate the right to abortion
in Kentuckys Constitution. The proposed amendment was approved last
year by the Republican-controlled Kentucky General Assembly.]
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IS KENTUCKY THE NEW KANSAS?  
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Deborah Yetter
September 10, 2022
Louisville Courier-Journal
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_ On Nov. 8, Kentucky will vote on a constitutional
amendment which, if approved, would eliminate the right to abortion
in Kentucky's Constitution. The proposed amendment was approved last
year by the Republican-controlled Kentucky General Assembly. _

On Nov. 8, Kentucky will vote on a constitutional amendment that
would eliminate the right to abortion,

 

In tears, a young woman described how after recently losing a
much-wanted pregnancy, her pharmacy hesitated to fill a prescription
for a drug her doctor prescribed to ensure the early miscarriage was
complete.

"They want you to prove that this isn't for abortion," the pharmacist
said, according to the woman who provided only her first name,
Meredith, to protect her privacy and also, because she's concerned
about possible online attacks.

Dr. Caitlin Thomas, a Louisville obstetrician and gynecologist, said
her patients fear what might happen if they become pregnant under
Kentucky's stringent new abortion laws. Some refuse a pregnancy test
in her office to avoid leaving a record.

"I know patients who are scared to tell me when their last menstrual
period was," said Thomas, with the American College of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists, a national doctors' group that supports abortion
access.

MORE:Kentucky's youngest abortion patients were age 9 before ban took
effect, data show
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And Kate Miller, advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties
Union, called the prospect of state surveillance of pregnant
individuals to enforce Kentucky's abortion restrictions "terrifying."

"Who is the best person to make a decision about your pregnancy −
you or the state?" Miller asked.

The comments came at a public forum Friday in Louisville seeking to
rally support against a constitutional amendment
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the Nov. 8 ballot which, if approved by voters, would eliminate the
right to abortion in Kentucky's Constitution. The event was hosted by
state Rep. Nima Kulkarni, D-Louisville, Protect Kentucky Access
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and the National Council of Jewish Women's Louisville chapter.

The proposed amendment, approved last year by the
Republican-controlled Kentucky General Assembly consists of one line:
"To protect human life, nothing in this constitution shall be
construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the
funding of abortion." To take effect, a majority of voters must
approve it.

And a major battle over the amendment is shaping up, with both sides
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it hugely important in deciding the future of abortion −which
currently is banned by state law after the U.S. Supreme Court on June
24 struck down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that for 49 years made
abortion a federal right.

"We need to show up on Nov. 8 to vote this down," Kulkarni said,
adding that if the amendment passes, it will cut off legal challenges
to restrictive state abortion laws.

But a group called Yes for Life,
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Right to Life, the Catholic Conference of Kentucky and the Kentucky
Baptist Convention, say they plan to fight just as hard to ensure the
amendment is passed in order to derail a pending legal challenge
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Kentucky abortion laws and block future challenges.

The goal is "to make sure you do not have radical judges making law
from the bench," said Addia Wuchner, executive director of Right to
Life and chair of the Yes for Life campaign.

MORE:Author of Kentucky's abortion ban is making a partisan bid for
Supreme Court seat
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On June 30, Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry temporarily blocked
Kentucky's ban on abortion that took effect after Roe v. Wade was
struck down but it was reinstated by a Court of Appeals judge while
the legal challenge is pending.

But the surprise rejection of a similar amendment in Kansas last
month
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given opponents hope.

"I feel very confident we are going to win in November," said Tamarra
Wieder, state director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, one
of the speakers at the forum.

Wuchner said the amendment itself does not ban abortion and her
group's goal is to inform the public about what it actually does,
which is to eliminate abortion as a state constitutional right.

"There’s a lot of misinformation out there on what the
constitutional amendment means," she said. "We are making sure people
are equipped with the truth."

But speakers at Friday's forum said the amendment would have
far-reaching consequences and would cut off options for legal
challenges to multiple laws restricting or banning abortion the
legislature has enacted since 2017 after Republicans consolidated
their hold on the House and Senate.

[State Rep. Nima Kulkarni moderated a discussion on Kentucky
Constitutional Amendment 2 during a forum held at Story Louisville on
Friday, September 9, 2022]

Wieder said Planned Parenthood fears the laws will discourage more
doctors from coming to Kentucky, a state with no OB-GYNs in 73 of 120
counties and higher-than-average rates of maternal and infant
mortality.

Meanwhile health providers and patients are confused and scared about
running afoul of the multiple penalties and restrictions of the laws
that have begun to take effect since Roe v. Wade was struck down,
Wieder said.

"We have been hearing so many of these stories at Planned Parenthood,"
she said.

Meredith said her pharmacy was reluctant to fill her prescription for
Misoprostol, a drug to treat women who've experienced a miscarriage
because, when used in combination with a second drug, Mifepristone, it
can be used to terminate a pregnancy. Commonly referred to as
a medication abortion
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the procedure is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for
use up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.

And House Bill 3, the "omnibus" abortion bill the legislature enacted
this year, heavily regulates such drugs and imposes potential fines
and other penalties on pharmacists and physicians who violate the law.

When the pharmacist questioned her need for the drug, Meredith said
she "burst into tears" and replied "I don't know how to prove I'm
having a miscarriage."

The pharmacy eventally agreed to fill the prescription, Meredith said.

But the ordeal was upsetting and worried her that more women will
encounter such obstacles to care, she said.

"To be questioned at that most vulnerable time in my life," Meredith
said. "It was just a unique kind of cruelty that no person should have
to experience."

Meredith said the complex laws "create a culture of fear," adding
"It's fear for people who are pregnant, who may want to become
pregnant or who accidentally become pregnant."

_Contact reporter Deborah Yetter at [email protected] or
find her on Twitter at @d_yetter._

* abortion
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* Reproductive rights
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* Kentucky
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* Kansas
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