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Planned Parenthood calls on Governor Beshear to veto H.B. 3 

 

Frankfort, KY — Today, the Kentucky State Legislature passed H.B. 3, a massive package of anti-abortion restrictions that would immediately end all abortion care in the commonwealth. Despite protest, the Kentucky Senate voted to advance the bill (29-0) this afternoon after seven Democratic Senators walked out in protest in solidarity with patients and reproductive health advocates. Just hours later, the Kentucky House of Representatives agreed to the Senate’s amendments (74-19), sending H.B. 3 to Governor Andy Beshear’s desk. Planned Parenthood strongly urges the governor to veto H.B. 3, citing the importance of accessible, comprehensive reproductive health care for the nearly one million people of reproductive age across the state who stand to lose access to abortion.

H.B. 3 would completely eliminate abortion access in Kentucky immediately upon becoming law by piling on a laundry list of abortion restrictions so extreme that they would make it impossible for providers to operate in the state. The bill would create a public complaint portal allowing any member of the public to file complaints against abortion providers, add unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion, and prohibit abortion clinics from safely and respectfully handling fetal remains in accordance with medical standards and practice. The bill was also amended on the Senate floor to insert a 15-week abortion ban, modeled off of Mississippi’s ban currently awaiting a ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Statement from Tamarra Wieder, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates – Kentucky State Director

“H.B. 3 is solely and deliberately designed to eliminate all abortion in the state of Kentucky. This bill ignores our constitutional rights, dismisses science, and contradicts public opinion. We strongly urge Governor Beshear to veto this cruel, dangerous bill and support what the majority of Kentuckians want – access to safe and legal abortion. The people of Kentucky deserve to make their own decisions about their health, bodies, and futures, and we at Planned Parenthood will never stop fighting for that right.” 

Statement from Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund

“Tonight, Kentucky politicians sent a message to the people of their state: ‘we don’t respect your constitutional rights,’” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “But Planned Parenthood does. We will never stop fighting for our patients in Kentucky against the escalating attacks on their ability to access an abortion and make their own decisions about their bodies, their lives and their futures. Tonight’s action by elected leaders was disgraceful. But the fight is not over.”

If Kentucky institutes a total abortion ban, experts predict we would see a 21 percent increase the number of pregnancy-related deaths overall and a 33 percent increase among Black women. The maternal mortality rate in Kentucky is already more than double the national average, killing Black women at a rate three to four times higher than non-Hispanic white women. 

 

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational, advocacy, and limited electoral activity, including grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter education.

Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, Serving AK, HI, ID, IN, KY, WA (PPAA) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization educating residents and policymakers about reproductive health issues in Alaska, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky and Washington. PPAA lobbies and educates to advance Planned Parenthood's mission, and engages in limited electoral activities

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