Did you know that the Kentucky legislature considered an abortion ban in 2006?

In 2006, the Kentucky legislature introduced a bill that would have imposed a near-total ban on abortion.  The outrageous legislation, if enacted, would have directly challenged Roe v. Wade.   It would have permitted government intrusion into a personal, private decision that should be made by a woman in consultation with her doctor and family.  Kentucky already has a statute on the books that expresses its opposition to abortion and its intent to restrict the right to choose to the greatest extent possible.  This bill only serves as an example of how far anti-choice politicians in Kentucky and nationwide are willing to go to make abortion more difficult to access, endangering women's health.

Instead of making women's access to abortion care more difficult and dangerous, lawmakers should focus on reducing the need for abortion by enacting laws guaranteeing that young people receive real, honest sex education and that all Kentuckians have access to family-planning services and birth control.  Even though legislation promoting prevention would reduce the need for abortion, the state of Kentucky doesn't have any pro-choice laws on the books.

H.B. 489, 2006 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Ky. 2006); Peter Smith, Bill Would Outlaw Most Abortions, Courier-J., Feb. 3, 2006; NARAL Pro-Choice America & NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, Who Decides? The Status of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States (16th ed. 2007), available at /whodecides.