Kentuckians reject anti-abortion amendment

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WXIX) - Abortion remains illegal in Kentucky despite the rejection of Amendment 2 by 7.4%, according to the Associated Press.

Amendment 2 would have changed the Kentucky constitution to state that it does not provide a right to an abortion or public abortion funding.

While Kentucky is an overwhelmingly red state, 666,276 people disagreed with the amendment while 574,966 people voted in favor, according to AP.

Planned Parenthood of Kentucky’s media manager Nicole Erwin says, lawyers for the organization and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron will appear before the state supreme court on Nov. 15 for oral arguments on the current near-total abortion ban.

Currently, the ban restricts people from getting an abortion unless the mother’s life is at risk, Erwin said.

“Earlier this year, extremist lawmakers turned their back on Kentuckians, and voted to strip us of our right to abortion,” Kentucky State Director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Tamarra Wieder said. “But tonight, Kentucky voters made it clear: We won’t back down when politicians try to come for our right to control our own bodies and our futures. Widespread support for abortion redefined this election up and down the ballot. Together, we defeated Amendment 2, and together we will take back control of our state legislature.”

In response to the election results, Kentucky Right to Life Executive Director Addia Wuchner says that the organization is “disappointed” in the outcome, yet grateful for everyone who helped the campaign.

“Abortion advocates regularly claim that abortion promotes women’s social and economic well-being,” Wuchner said. “Kentucky women deserve better than a flawed medical model of practices in women’s healthcare that embraces the destruction of human life, the life of their child. Today, we are disappointed, yet our hearts are not defeated. Tomorrow will find us motivated. This work is too important to slow down, and we look forward to the next phase of pro-life advocacy in Kentucky, changing hearts and saving lives.”

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