Pro-Life Amendment to Kentucky Constitution Approved for 2022 Ballot

photo credit: Matt Turner / Flickr

In the evening of Tuesday, March 30, the Kentucky Senate voted to pass HB 91. This bill approved an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution which reads: “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.”

In November 2022, Kentucky voters will have the chance to decide whether to ratify this amendment. If voters pass it, judges will be unable to find an implied right to abortion in the state's constitution.

When Kentucky Right to Life explained HB 91, it wrote,

In numerous states, abortion advocates have sued to overturn pro-life laws, and their respective Supreme Courts have “found” a right to abortion in their state constitution. This technique is how Roe v. Wade became our nation’s case law.

A number of states have passed constitutional amendments to protect their pro-life laws from such court decisions. Rep. Joe Fischer testified during a Senate committee hearing that HB 91 assures, “No Kentucky court will be able to fashion an implicit right to abortion from the language in our state constitution: there will be no Roe v. Wade decision in Kentucky. The regulation or elimination of abortion will be vested in the Kentucky General Assembly, not in the courts.” HB 91 ensures that it is the lawmakers of Kentucky who make the laws, not rogue judges.

Even though pro-abortion Andrew Beshear is currently Kentucky's governor, the governor does not have the authority to veto proposed constitutional amendments.

Click here to read more.