LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Thursday marked one year since Kentucky voters rejected a ballot measure that would have explicitly excluded any perceived right to abortion from the state constitution.
Kentucky has not had abortion access since 2022, when an abortion ban went into effect following the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Some organizations supporting abortion rights said Tuesday’s election was a referendum on abortion.
In September, Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear shared an ad featuring a woman named Hadley who said that she was raped by her stepfather at the age of 12.
Hadley called out Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who has defended Kentucky’s abortion ban.
The ban has no exceptions for rape or incest.
Cameron later said that if the Legislature brought him a bill with exceptions or a court forced a change in the law, he would sign it.
Heather Ayer, campaign coordinator with the ACLU of Kentucky, said Thursday that abortion played a significant role in this week’s election.
“I think that by Hadley taking that brave step of going on the air and publicizing her story and sharing that, it really kind of struck home with a lot of Kentuckians, like this could happen to anyone,” said Ayer. “It could happen to a loved one. It could happen to anyone that you might know and Kentuckians know and believe that the decisions about abortion and about health care should be made between a doctor and loved ones and the pregnant person themselves.”
Beshear called Kentucky’s law the most extreme in the country and said that Kentuckians want to see exceptions, at the very least.
Republican political consultant Tres Watson said Thursday that abortion was among the top four reasons why Beshear won the election. He was the only statewide win for Democrats this week. However, Watson said voter turnout was a factor as well.
“Both parties right now, Republicans and Democrats, are extremes compared to the vast majority of Americans,” said Watson. “I would like to see the [Republican] party — to continue to win elections — move towards the middle a little bit. Seventy percent of voters believe that it should be a 15-week ban with traditional exceptions and the first party to get there is going to get those voters.”
Watson referred to a June Gallup poll that showed 69% of Americans said abortion should generally be legal in the first three months of pregnancy.
Republicans hold a supermajority in the Kentucky House and Senate.
A Republican-led bill to add exceptions for rape and incest filed earlier this year did not move forward.