2020 Legislative Session: HB67(BR-241)

**Description**

HB 67 is a bill containing the provision that, if the bill is passed, the voters of Kentucky will be asked at a set time and in a set manner if they are in favor of amending the Constitution of Kentucky; the amendment would clarify that Kentucky's Constitution may in no way be construed to mean that it protects abortion or funding of abortion.

The bill does not qualify the ban on abortion by including exemptions for victims of rape or incest; it also would not exclude those whose lives would be threatened or would be economically imperiled if forced to continue their pregnancy.

The bill effectively allows for the public to choose if the legislature would vote for the constitutional specification about abortion, meaning that a referendum would be held on this policy. The time and manner of the vote is not specified in the bill, meaning that the referendum could either be held solely for the purpose of voting on the policy or it could be included in an election vote (such as the upcoming Caucus or General Election later this year).

**Sponsor(s)**

 HB 67 was sponsored by Representative Joe Fischer of KY District 68 (located in Campbell County, KY) and was cosponsored by 37 other Representatives. Significantly, Rep. Joe Fischer was awarded the Northern Kentucky Right to Life John J. Bauer Service Award in 1998.

Reporter Alex Acquisto of the Lexington Herald-Leader, in an article written on March 10th, 2020, discussed comments made by Rep. Fischer:

> Fischer on the House floor shortly after said his amendment, in conjunction with last session’s House Bill 148 from Fischer, which will make it illegal to perform an abortion in Kentucky if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns or alters Roe v. Wade, **“will finally end the legal slaughter of unborn children in Kentucky.”**(Emphasis added)
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Acquisto later added another piece of information that might provide insight to Rep. Fischer's motivations: "Passage of his constitutional amendment, Fischer said, transfers the regulation of abortion away from the courts and vests it **'permanently and exclusively with the General Assembly.'"** (Emphasis added)

**Controversy**

Since this bill would outlaw abortion and abortion coverage by insurance providers, it is inevitable that the bill would go without attention from state-level media organizations. If passed, it is highly likely to receive national news coverage as a monumental effort by a state to push back against what some have called "courtroom legislation," in this instance referring to the case of Roe v. Wade (1973), which legalized abortion nationwide.

The Kentucky ACLU website had this to say regarding HB 67: "HB67 is a politically-motivated attempt to make abortion completely inaccessible in Kentucky. The government should never have the authority to force someone to remain pregnant against their will."

According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, the bill was passed through the House Committee Elections, Constitutional Amendments, and Intergovernmental Affairs in roughly 10 minutes, with a vote of 11-7. While reproductive rights supporters were frustrated by this measure's success, pro-life advocates were delighted with the bill's progress, including the Kentucky Right to Life executive director Margie Montgomery.

The Courier-Journal also reports that there are currently six bills in the General Assembly that target abortion, constituting a strong resistance to the new governor and many of his allies and supporters.

This is reflective of a nationwide effort to pass abortion-restricting legislation for the purpose of relitigating abortion laws in courts; HB 67 bears resemblance to a bill passed into law in Alabama in 2019 that received an enormous amount of media attention. The Alabama bill would have been an almost comprehensive ban on abortion procedures, athough its legality is currently being litigated in the courts while abortion remains legal in Alabama.

**Bill Progress**

Friday, October 4, 2019 - Prefiled by the sponsor(s).

Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - Introduced in House.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - To Elections, Const. Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs (H).

Monday, January 13, 2020 - Posted in committee.

Thursday, February 20, 2020 - Reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar.

Friday, February 21, 2020 - 2nd reading, to Rules.

Thursday, February 27, 2020 - Posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, February 28, 2020.

Friday, February 28, 2020 - Floor amendments (1-title), (2-title), (3), (4) and (5) filed.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020 - 3rd reading, passed 71-21.

Wednesday, March 11th, 2020 - Received in Senate.

(NOTE: The source information for the preceding items in this section can be found at the reference located next to the subheading "Bill Progress," denoted as item #8 in the following reference list.)

**Reference List**

1. ↑ Kentucky General Assembly. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2020, from https://legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/Pages/Legislator-Profile.aspx?DistrictNumber=68
2. ↑ Acquisto, A. (2020, March 10). KY House passes two anti-abortion bills, including constitutional amendment. Retrieved March 16, 2020, from https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article241066901.html
3. ↑ Acquisto, A. (2020, March 10). KY House passes two anti-abortion bills, including constitutional amendment. Retrieved March 16, 2020, from https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article241066901.html
4. ↑ Anti-Abortion Constitutional Amendment - HB67. (2020, March 10). Retrieved March 12, 2020, from https://www.aclu-ky.org/en/hb67
5. ↑ Yetter, D. (2020, February 20). Kentucky Constitution would include no right to abortion under bill approved Thursday. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-legislature/2020/02/20/bill-banning-abortion-kentucky-constitutions-passes-committee/4810994002/
6. ↑ Yetter, D. (2020, February 20). Kentucky Constitution would include no right to abortion under bill approved Thursday. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/ky-legislature/2020/02/20/bill-banning-abortion-kentucky-constitutions-passes-committee/4810994002/
7. ↑ Rojas, R., & Blinder, A. (2019, October 29). Alabama Abortion Ban Is Temporarily Blocked by a Federal Judge. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/us/alabama-abortion-ban.html
8. ↑ (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2020, from https://secure.kentucky.gov/billwatch/BillSummary.aspx?br\_rsn=44740&ses\_rsn=104