LEXINGTON, Ky. — Over protesters chanting "Abortion is health care!" in the Kentucky Senate chambers on Tuesday, Republicans passed a hefty omnibus bill that opponents say will effectively end abortion access in Kentucky.
Republican lawmakers, in the eleventh hour, rolled two abortion bills into one: the final version of House Bill 3 from Rep. Nancy Tate, a Brandenburg Republican, an omnibus anti-abortion bill that puts even more restrictions on the already highly regulated procedure in Kentucky, now includes contents of Senate Bill 321 from state Sen. Max Wise, a Campbellsville Republican, added in the form of an amendment, which bans abortions after the 15-week mark in a pregnancy.
Wise's bill is modeled after a Mississippi bill on appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court. In that case, Mississippi has asked the high court to not only uphold its 15-week abortion ban, but to also overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case prohibiting states from banning abortion before a fetus is viable, usually around 23 weeks.
