LOUISVILLE, Ky. — During the first days of the 2025 Kentucky legislative session, a group of House Republicans filed a bill to add exceptions for cases of rape and incest to the state's near-total abortion ban.

It also would add additional instances for when abortions can be performed, such as nonviable pregnancies.   


What You Need To Know

  • State Rep. Ken Fleming, R-Louisville, has filed a bill to add exceptions to Kentucky's near-total abortion ban 

  • It adds language to allow abortions for rape and incest victims, up to six weeks after becoming pregnant

  • The bill also adds clarifying language to allow the procedure in other cases

  • At least two fellow Republicans have signed on as cosponsors

State Rep. Ken Fleming, R-Louisville, is House Bill 203’s primary sponsor. He filed a similar bill in 2024, but it did not come up for a vote. State Reps. Jim Gooch Jr., R-Providence, and Vanessa Grossl, R-Georgetown, are cosponsors.

“It's really to provide some clarity for doctors, but also helps out those victims that go through a horrific situation,” Fleming said.

In the years leading up to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, around 3,000 to 4,000 abortions were performed in Kentucky yearly, according to state statistics. The latest data reports that just 23 procedures were done in 2023. Statistics from 2024 have yet to be released. 

Kentucky is one of several states that passed a trigger law that placed a near-total ban on abortions, which went into effect in 2022.

Fleming’s bill would expand instances for when an abortion can be done to this:

  • To preserve the life of the mother or to avoid a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman
  • To remove a dead unborn fetus
  • To remove an ectopic pregnancy or incomplete miscarriage
  • Because of a lethal fetal anomaly
  • In cases of rape or incest no later than six weeks after the first day of the woman's last menstrual period

The current law does not include an exemption for victims of rape or incest and only allows the procedure to save the life of the mother.

“This is an opportunity for us to increase the dialog of the exceptions, which I think Kentucky seemed to be gravitating more to having this type of legislation passed,” Fleming said.

State Rep. Ken Fleming, R-Louisville, represents parts of Jefferson and Oldham Counties. (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton). (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton)

Planned Parenthood told Spectrum News they find issue with Fleming’s bill, with one reason being it does not remove the looming threat of stiff consequences for violation of the state’s abortion laws.

“Until some of those codes are outright stricken, we are going to continue to see patients and providers leave the state because they will be too afraid to provide care to the patients in need,” said Tamarra Wieder, Kentucky State Director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.

Wieder said she's also concerned with the six-week time frame that rape or incest survivors have to access an abortion.

“They should be afforded more time to go through the process, to seek support and be allowed to have access to full-spectrum health care, especially when they are just finding out that they are pregnant,” Wieder said.

Grossl said she supports adding the rape and incest exemptions and clarifying state law when it comes to the reasons an abortion can be performed.

“This is a very, in my opinion, pro-family stance, on this very difficult medical situation,” Grossl said.

Grossl added she has had several conversations with constituents about this issue, saying the consensus is support for what’s being proposed in HB 203. She said she hopes Democrats will back this measure.

“I hope that they will recognize this as a good faith effort and first step on doing something that's common sense, that makes sense for the people in our districts,” Grossl said.“I hope that they will recognize this as a good faith effort and first step on doing something that's common sense, that makes sense for the people in our districts,” Grossl said.

Fleming said he is also working on legislation that would provide wraparound services to those who go through the abortion process. He said he believes it could with come as a separate bill or be added onto HB 203.

While state lawmakers do not return to Frankfort until next month, recently elected State Rep. Adam Moore, D-Lexington, has committed to co-sponsor Fleming’s bill.

In the Senate, Minority Whip David Yates, D-Louisville, has filed his own bill to add rape and incest exceptions. 

Changes implemented in the House this year will mean HB 203 is assigned to a committee, but action taken after that is uncertain.