Kentucky lawmakers vote to ban some abortions at 11 weeks despite claim it's unconstitutional

Deborah Yetter | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption History of Abortion rights in Kentucky A timeline of how abortion rights have changed since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Some abortions would be banned in Kentucky under a bill being sent to the governor though opponents say it won't withstand a court challenge.

House Bill 454 would ban a type of abortion known as dilation and evacuation or D&E at 11 weeks after fertilization except in cases of medical emergency. It passed Tuesday on a 75-13 vote.

GOP Gov. Matt Bevin does not support abortion but has not said whether he would sign the legislation.

"This bill is going to cost taxpayers a load of money and it's clearly unconstitutional," said Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, a Louisville Democrat who voted no.

► March 20: Judge blocks Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban from going into effect

► March 20: Supreme Court skeptical of California law requiring info on abortion

► March 15: Judge blocks Ohio's ban on abortions after Down syndrome diagnosis

But supporters, including GOP Rep. Stan Lee of Lexington, said it is necessary to ban a type of abortion that he said has no place in a civilized society.

"I think sometimes those little babies need someone to speak up for them," Lee said.

Dilation and evacuation generally is performed after 11 weeks of pregnancy and accounted for 537 of about 3,300 abortions in Kentucky in 2016, according to state statistics. Doctors generally calculate the age of a pregnancy from the first day of a woman’s previous menstrual period, which is about two weeks before fertilization, because the exact date of conception isn't usually known.

The abortion procedure covered in HB 454 involves dilating the cervix and removing the fetus using suction and surgical tools. A fetus is about 2 inches long and weighs almost a third of an ounce at 11 weeks, according to the Mayo Clinic.

In the United States, only 11% of abortions occur after the first trimester, but national estimates suggest the D&E method accounts for roughly 95% of those later procedures, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Courts already have blocked similar laws in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, Kate Miller, advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said in a statement Tuesday.

She denounced HB 454 as an effort to "severely limit access to safe, legal abortions in the commonwealth" and said the ACLU will "continue to fight back against extreme legislative attacks on Kentuckians' reproductive rights."

An ACLU spokeswoman declined to say whether the organization is considering a legal challenge to the measure.

HB 454 is the only abortion bill to emerge this year from the Legislature.

► Feb. 27: U.S. can end legal abortion 'in our time,' Mike Pence says

► Jan. 29: Senate blocks 20-week abortion bill GOP pushed to get Dems on record

Another, House Bill 455, would ban abortions in cases where the fetus has Down syndrome, a law enacted earlier this month in Ohio and blocked in the courts before it could take effect. With only a few days left in the legislative session, Kentucky's bill has yet to be voted out of committee.

Of two abortion bills the Kentucky Legislature passed last year, one, requiring doctors to perform an ultrasound and attempt to show and describe the image to a patient, has been struck down by a federal judge in Louisville. The state's appeal of the decision is pending.

A second measure passed in 2017 bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. It has not been challenged in court.

Follow Deborah Yetter on Twitter: @d_yetter

Kentucky House Bill 454