The governor expressed doubts about the constitutionality of the bill and criticized it for not including exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. State lawmakers will have the opportunity to circumvent the veto when they reconvene next week for the last two days of this year’s 60-day legislative session. The abortion measure has won overwhelming support in the GOP-dominated legislature. A spokesman for the state Republican Party described the veto as the latest example of the governor’s “ideological war” against conservative values. The proposal reflects the latest effort by Kentucky lawmakers to impose more restrictions and conditions on abortions since Republicans took full control of the legislature after the 2016 election. The proposed 15-week ban is based on a Mississippi law being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that could dramatically restrict abortion rights. Taking precautionary measures, supporters of the bill say a stricter ban on Kentucky would apply if Mississippi law was complied with. Kentucky law currently prohibits abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Beshear condemned the bill for failing to exclude pregnancies caused by rape or incest. “Rape and incest are violent crimes,” the governor said in a veto on Friday. “Victims of these crimes should have choices, not be further scarred through a process that exposes them to greater harm than their rapists or treats them as the perpetrators themselves.” The governor said the bill would make it harder for girls under the age of 18 to terminate a pregnancy without notifying both parents. For example, she said a girl who had been impregnated by her father should notify him of her intention to have an abortion. Beshear, a former state attorney general, also said the bill was “possibly unconstitutional”, noting that similar laws had been repealed elsewhere by the Supreme Court. He noted the provisions of the Kentucky bill, which require non-surgical physicians to maintain hospitals that accept privileges in “geographical proximity” to the site of surgery. “The Supreme Court has ruled that such claims are unconstitutional as it makes it impossible for women, including a child victim of rape or incest, to seek redress in certain parts of the state,” the governor said. Opponents of the Kentucky bill say its restrictions are so burdensome that no abortion clinic could comply. The state-run Republican Party sharply criticized Besiar for his veto. It is likely to be an issue again next year, when the governor nominates a second Republican in Kentucky. On Friday, Republican Rep. Sean Southard said the governor’s veto was “the latest step in his ideological war against the conservative values of the people of Kentucky.” Abortion rights advocates defended the governor’s action. Jackie McGranahan, a policy strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the bill was intended to “embarrass and expel patients” and “repel a safe and effective method of abortion care.” Another key part of the bill will be regulations on the distribution of abortion pills. It would require women to be examined in person by a doctor before taking the drug. This part of the bill is part of a national push by anti-abortion groups to limit doctors’ ability to prescribe telemedicine abortion pills in response to the increased use of pills instead of surgery to terminate early pregnancies. About half of all abortions performed in Kentucky are the result of medical procedures.
