KENTUCKY — Here’s a look at some of the recent claims on abortion from the Cameron and Beshear campaigns for governor:
On Sept. 20, Gov. Andy Beshear, the Democratic nominee for governor, shared an ad featuring an Owensboro woman identified as Hadley.
“I was raped by my stepfather after years of sexual abuse,” she said in the video before calling out Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican nominee for governor.
“This is to you, Daniel Cameron,” she said. “To tell a 12-year-old girl she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable.”
Kentucky’s abortion ban, which Cameron defends, has no exceptions for rape or incest.
Hours later, Cameron shared a video on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, saying Beshear is running “disgusting, false attacks.”
“I’ve said, if the legislature were to bring me a bill with exceptions, I would sign it,” Cameron said in the video.
During the gubernatorial primary debate in March, Spectrum News 1’s Mario Anderson asked if Cameron would support any exceptions to the current abortion law.
“Well, I support the current law,” Cameron said. “And of course, Mario, you know that I’ve been defending the Human Life Protection Act and I’m proud that since August of last year, the abortion facilities have been closed in Kentucky.”
Here’s what Cameron told Mario in a conversation that aired on Spectrum News 1 on Oct. 3:
“What I’ve said is that if something were to happen and if the law was required to be changed, and we had to have additional exceptions, I would certainly sign those exceptions,” Cameron said.
Beshear’s record on abortion
He then went after Beshear’s record.
“He recently refused to sign a law that would keep a baby alive after a failed abortion,” said Cameron. “I think most of the people at home find that abhorrent.”
In 2021, Beshear did not sign or veto Senate Bill 9, so it became law automatically.
It required doctors to perform life-saving care on infants that survive an attempted abortion.
At the time, a spokesperson for Beshear said the bill “involves a situation that, to our knowledge, has never happened in Kentucky and is already illegal under other Kentucky laws.”
When Roe v. Wade was overturned last year and Kentucky’s abortion ban went into effect, Beshear called it “extremist” for not including exceptions for rape and incest victims.
Last month, Beshear campaign spokesperson Alex Floyd told the Courier Journal, “Andy Beshear has been clear for years that he supports reasonable restrictions, especially on late-term procedures.”