FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The following statement can be attributed to ACLU-KY Reproductive Freedom Project Policy Strategist Jackie McGranahan:
“The advancement of House Bill 2 and Senate Bill 9 today marks a sad milestone in the General Assembly’s years-long campaign to completely block abortion access for all Kentuckians, regardless of their personal circumstances. Kentucky politicians will stop at nothing to force people to remain pregnant against their will.
Senate Bill 9 is an inflammatory bill that has no basis in the real-life practice of medicine. SB 9 serves only to shame and ostracize patients and their healthcare providers so anti-abortion politicians can score cheap political points.
House Bill 2 would give regulatory powers currently held by career health experts at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to Attorney General Daniel Cameron. This bill is a blatant power grab that undermines healthcare experts and sets the stage for anti-abortion politicians and their allies to work in tandem to make it harder for Kentuckians to access reproductive health care, including safe, legal abortion. HB 2 is clearly not about improving health and safety, as it singles out providers of abortion care and no other healthcare providers. Attorney General Cameron has made it clear he would target abortion providers, and even punish them with criminal and civil penalties.
Now more than ever, science and public health must guide us, not politics. The inflammatory rhetoric and restrictions on abortion care are an affront to Kentuckians at any time, but the consequences of restricting abortion access during a pandemic are even more dire, particularly for people of color and people experiencing poverty.
We call on the House to vote no on Senate Bill 9 and the Senate to vote no on House Bill 2.”
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