Pro-life leaders react to news of pro-life victory at the Kentucky Supreme Court during The Family Foundation’s Faith & Family Advocacy Day on the morning of February 16, 2023.
Left to Right: David Walls (TFF); Addia Wuchner (Kentucky Right to Life); and Rep. Nancy Tate (Chair of the Pro-Life Caucus)
Not long ago, Kentucky’s preborn children were at risk of being killed for no reason at all, mothers were left vulnerable to coercion and pressure to get unwanted abortions, state lawmakers were prevented from implementing the Commonwealth’s longstanding policy of promoting life, and numerous pro-life laws were being challenged in court.
The unjust and egregiously wrong Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 had usurped Kentucky’s pro-life law, which had long been in effect, and replaced it with a system that damaged the integrity of the medical profession by causing harm to society, women, and children.
Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court corrected that wrong on June 24, 2022. Though the injustice that reigned for nearly fifty years can never be undone, the fall of Roe is a major victory that immediately triggered Kentucky’s Human Life Protection Act and protected preborn children throughout pregnancy.
Despite a legal challenge and Gov. Beshear attacking the pro-life law as “extremist,” the Human Life Protection Act has now been in effect for over a year and preborn children remain protected throughout the Commonwealth.
After a staunch defense of Kentucky’s pro-life law by Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the abortion industry dropped its meritless challenge to Kentucky’s Human Life Protection Act.
On February 16, 2023, the Kentucky Supreme Court declared that an activist Louisville judge had been wrong to temporarily halt enforcement of the Human Life Protection Act. The Court rejected the abortion industry’s claim of third-party standing, emphasizing that the U.S. Supreme Court’s precedent allowing such has been “strongly, and rightfully, discredited.”
In the four months that followed, the abortion industry was unable to find a single Kentucky woman who was willing to come forward to claim that she was seeking an abortion, yet her alleged right was being violated – hence, their decision to file the motion to dismiss and withdraw from the case.
Now that pro-life advocates and the Kentucky General Assembly have seen the Commonwealth’s pro-life laws successfully defended by Attorney General Daniel Cameron, an increased focus will be given to coming alongside women to provide the support, resources, and assistance they need. This is how we will truly build a culture of life… and that is what comes after Roe.
EVERY WORD OF EVERY KENTUCKY PRO-LIFE LAW IS NOW IN EFFECT… EVEN THESE RECENTLY CHALLENGED ONES.
Humanity in Healthcare Act (2022 House Bill 3)
One of the most comprehensive pieces of pro-life legislation in the Commonwealth’s history, including protections for the preborn after 15 weeks, the Humanity in Healthcare Act became law in 2022, over the veto of Gov. Andy Beshear. Attorney General Daniel Cameron successfully defended the law against a legal challenge from Kentucky’s abortion providers and the law went into full effect on June 16, 2023.
Human Life Protection Act (2019 House Bill 148)
An activist Louisville judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the Human Life Protection Act, but Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s defense of the law led to the Kentucky Court of Appeals allowing the law to go into effect and an eventual 4-3 victory at the Kentucky Supreme Court on February 16, 2023.
Heartbeat Law (2019 Senate Bill 9)
An activist Louisville judge temporarily blocked the Heartbeat Law less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but the law quickly went back into effect after Attorney General Daniel Cameron won at the Kentucky Court of Appeals, then the Kentucky Supreme Court on February 16, 2023.
Law Prohibiting Abortions Based on Race, Gender, and Disability (2019 House Bill 5)
The abortion provider’s legal challenge to this pro-life law was dismissed on June 30, 2023. The law took immediate effect, prohibiting abortions motivated by the gender, race, or disability of the preborn child.
Law Banning Live-Dismemberment Abortions (2018 House Bill 454)
Attorney General Daniel Cameron went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted him the right to intervene and defend the law after Governor Andy Beshear decided to no longer do so. The law went into full effect after the legal challenge was dismissed on August 17, 2022.
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