FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Senate Committee has passed a "born-alive" bill. 

The Senate Standing Committee on Veteran and Military Affairs and Public Protection unanimously approved Senate Bill 9 sponsored by Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Crofton. The legislation requires a medical professional to provide medically appropriate care to an infant if they are born alive after an attempted abortion or any other type of live birth situation. 

Failure for a health care provider to do so would result in a Class D Felony.

Westerfield is not sure how often this happens in Kentucky but views this bill as a protective law.

"We want to make sure the law is there to prevent it from ever happening," Westerfield said. "We want to make sure the protection is there, we want this to be zero times."

Westerfield filed an almost identical bill late in the 2019 General Assembly session. 

The ACLU of Kentucky did not testify against the bill but they expressed their opposition to the bill in a letter to lawmakers saying this bill is another attempt to make abortions harder to access and criminalize the work doctors do.

"Senate Bill 9 has nothing to do with how abortion care actually works and is based on false claims," policy advocacy director Kate Miller said. "Bills like this perpetuate myths and lies about about abortion care, patients who receive this care, and the doctors who care for them."

Westerfield expects the bill to be voted on the full Senate floor quickly.