3 Reasons Kentucky Abortion Law Isn’t Good Enough, and How to Fix It
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Here are three reasons current Kentucky abortion law is not good enough—and, how to fix it.
#1. Federal regulations can overturn it.
The Kentucky law that outlaws abortion admits that it can be overturned by federal regulations— not just laws, but court decisions and executive orders. It does this both explicitly and, I would argue, implicitly.
Explicitly, the law states that it would no longer be effective if a president’s executive order or some other regulation removes Medicaid funding from states that restrict abortion. The law says that:
KRS 311.772
(7) The provisions of this section shall be effective relative to the appropriation of Medicaid funds, to the extent consistent with any executive order by the President of the United States, federal statute, appropriation rider, or federal regulation that sets forth the limited circumstances in which states must fund abortion to remain eligible to receive federal Medicaid funds pursuant to 42 U.S.C. secs. 1396 et seq.
Now think about that. Do you trust our president or other pro-abortion politicians to not do that? Why would they put that in the law? It’s basically asking to be overturned.
But the Kentucky law also does this, I would say, implicitly. And this is a problem with any so-called trigger law in any conservative state.
trigger law noun
: a currently unenforceable law that upon the occurrence of an event (such as a court decision) becomes enforceable
“...a statwide abortion ban designed to automatically go into effect when Roe [v. Wade] fell.”
If your law only takes effect if the federal government (in this case, the Supreme Court) allows it to, then that implies it will no longer be effective if the federal government disallows it again in the future— because your state has signaled that it will just roll over and comply. And that means, if your law protects unborn children, that you’re not protecting unborn children from the federal government.
You should just write the law the way it should be, and if there’s a conflict with the federal government, it becomes an issue of states’ rights and constitutionality—and we can have it out. You can fight that battle in the courts.
But if your law is written to kowtow to federal whims, then you’ve conceded defeat before that battle can even happen—all at the expense of unborn children.
Proverbs 25:26 says,
Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.
That’s exactly what Kentucky abortion law does. It’s muddied and polluted, and it needs to be changed.
#2. The criminal penalty is too low.
The current law says anyone who performs an abortion is “guilty of a Class D felony.” The prison sentence for that is between 1 and 5 years.
KRS 311.772
(3) (b) Any person who violates paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class D felony.
You know what else is a Class D felony in Kentucky? Dog fighting.
(5) Cruelty to animals in the first degree is a Class D felony.
So, murdering a human baby through abortion is considered equal to…cruelty to a dog.
By contrast, Kentucky law states that someone who intentionally kills a pre-born child in some other way is guilty of “fetal homicide”—which is a capital offense. You can go to prison for life without parole.
KRS 507A.020
(1) A person is guilty of fetal homicide in the first degree when:
(a) With intent to cause the death of an unborn child . . . he causes the death of an unborn child . . .
(2) Fetal homicide in the first degree is a capital offense.
Do you see the huge discrepancy? You get life for murdering an unborn child, unless your murder method is abortion—then, you only get 5 years tops.
That is not just.
Proverbs 20:10 says God hates unequal weights and measures:
Unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
Every unborn human is equal in value, and is equal in value to every other human. Our law needs to reflect that, and it doesn’t.
#3. The mother is exempt from punishment.
Current Kentucky law penalizes abortion providers, but specifically exempts the mother from “any criminal conviction and penalty."
KRS 311.772
(5) Nothing in this section may be construed to subject the pregnant mother upon whom any abortion is performed or attempted to any criminal conviction and penalty.
Now imagine a scenario in which a mother hires an assassin to murder her toddler. Should that mother be exempt from criminal penalties, and only the assassin be subject to conviction?
Or how about a situation in which a mother asks someone for some poison so she can give it to her child. Should the mother be exempt, and only the one who procured the poison be liable?
No. It shouldn’t be that way, and it’s not. But it is that way for abortion, which is essentially the same thing.
By the way, did you known that self-managed chemical abortions are more common than surgical abortions?
If a mother is exempt from penalties, then she can take pills and murder her child that way, and get off scot free. It’s perfectly legal for her—and making it the only legal option all but guarantees that it will become even more common.
In Deuteronomy 1:17, God commands that judgment be partial to no one:
You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. . . .
So, everyone involved in a murder should be prosecutable. The parents of an unborn child are no exception.
Now, could there be scenarios in which a mother is forced to have an abortion under duress? Yes. So, a just law would provide for that fact while not exempting the mothers in every other scenario.
The current law wrongfully exempts all of them.
How To Fix It
So there you have it—three reasons current Kentucky abortion law is not sufficient.
Now, how do you fix it? You fix it by passing a bill that adds abortion to the homicide code so that it’s treated as it should be—as murder.
That is exactly what a new bill does, called “The Abolition of Abortion in Kentucky Act.”
In a future post, Lord willing, I’ll present three reasons to support this new bill, and I’ll give you actionable steps on how to do that.
Subscribe here so you don’t miss that post—and please, please, please share this post so that we get the word out about why this new bill is needed, and we get the bill passed.
#AAKY #AbolishAbortionKY #AbolishAbortionKYBill
Also, send me your thoughts and questions, and I’ll try to respond as I’m able.
This is the year to put the final nail in the coffin of abortion in the state of Kentucky.
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