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Bill would outlaw most abortions Peter Smith / The Courier-Journal | February 3 2006 Thirty-six state representatives are sponsoring a bill that would ban abortion in Kentucky except when a woman's life is in danger — a bill designed to trigger a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that made abortion legal. The bill, filed Wednesday, would have no effect if it became law. That's because the U.S. Supreme Court declared abortion to be a constitutional right in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, overriding state laws to the contrary. But anti-abortion activists hope that an increasingly conservative court would overturn Roe. This bill -- and similar legislation pending in Indiana and a handful of other states -- appears to be designed "to provoke a challenge to Roe," said Elizabeth Nash, a public policy associate with the Washington-based Guttmacher Institute, which tracks such issues. "We'll definitely be fighting it," said Amanda Kreps-Long, director of the Reproductive Freedom Project for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. Margie Montgomery, executive director of the Kentucky Right to Life Association, said she hadn't studied the bill in detail but said "we certainly do applaud all intentions to save human life." A 1982 Kentucky statute declared the legislature's intent to ban abortion if Roe is overturned by either new judicial decisions or a constitutional amendment. The bill pending in the Kentucky House is sponsored by Rep. Addia Kathryn Wuchner, R-Burlington, and most of the co-sponsors are also Republicans. Wuchner could not be reached for comment yesterday. The bill would make it a felony to perform an abortion or to provide drugs that would induce an abortion, unless the woman's life is in jeopardy. Women undergoing an abortion would not face charges. The Kentucky bill declares that life begins at conception and that this has been "confirmed by scientific advances made since" Roe v. Wade. The bill includes a lengthy preamble stating that abortion carries "significant health risks" to a woman and causes psychological distress and suicidal tendencies -- claims disputed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which supports abortion rights. Differences in beliefs Schroerlucke regularly escorts women past protesters to an abortion clinic in downtown Louisville. He says he is regularly screamed at by anti-abortion protesters at close range and was once knocked down. He said the experience is "rough" but that things would be worse if abortion became illegal. "We'd go back to what it was years ago," he said. "It was terrible -- women going to back alleys, people who set up to do that kind of thing who weren't trained. (There were) unclean areas. … Women died." But Lee Anne Meyer of Louisville, who had an abortion in 1995, supports the bill. "Abortion should be illegal," she said. "Had it been illegal when I had an abortion, I wouldn't have had one. Having had one, I do regret it, and it's something I'm learning to deal with." Meyer said her family and minister supported her decision to have an abortion but that she went through years of grief, guilt and alcohol abuse. She now volunteers with a support group organized by the Free Indeed Ministries, which she learned about through her congregation, Southeast Christian Church. The bill "would undoubtedly under Roe v. Wade be unconstitutional on various grounds," said professor Sam Marcosson of the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. Marcosson, who teaches constitutional law, said there is "zero" likelihood the current Supreme Court would reconsider Roe based on the Kentucky bill. The court, however, could have more justices willing to overturn Roe by the time a lengthy appeals process over a Kentucky law concluded. Five current members of the U.S. Supreme Court -- a bare majority -- have voted to uphold Roe. A sixth, retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, was replaced this week by Samuel Alito, who has written against Roe. More recent decisions have also required that laws which partly restrict abortions include exceptions when a women's health -- not just her life -- is endangered. State Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, said she would oppose the bill, but "I would not be surprised of anything in this legislature." "It's very 'government intrusion,' (with) Big Brother telling you what to do," she said. "Whether or not to have a child should be left up to the person who knows best -- the woman and her family. Government does not need be telling you what to do or what you can't do." John McGary, a spokesman for House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, declined to comment on the bill but noted that it is similar to the 1982 law declaring the legislature's intent to bar abortion. Richards "is pro-life, and actually most House Democrats are," he added. Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher's office said in a statement that Fletcher "has always been a strong supporter of pro-life legislation." It said the governor's general counsel has not completely reviewed the bill, "but it appears to raise issues concerning its constitutionality under Roe v. Wade. In the past, the governor has supported legislation that exempts rape and incest." Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469. |
