By Dave Andrusko
Building on the momentum generated by House passage, Kentucky’s Senate Wednesday passed HB 5 on an overwhelming vote of 32-4.
HB 5 bans abortions because of a child’s sex, race, or a disability such as Down syndrome.
Last month the House passed the bill by a lopsided vote of 67-25.
The measure now goes to Gov. Matt Bevin who is expected to sign HB5. The bill has an emergency provision that will make it law as soon as the governor signs it. Predictably the ACLU says it will challenge HB 5 in court.
“I’m thrilled that it passed out and will go to the governor for his signature,” said Rep. Melinda Gibbons Prunty, according to. Louisville Courier-Journal reporter Deborah Yetter.
Prunty, who described HB 5 as an anti-discrimination bill to protect rights of unborn children, said she was disappointed the ACLU plans to challenge it.
“I think they should be on our side if they are against discrimination,” she said.
Prunty has called the bill a “common sense” measure to ban discrimination against fetuses because of race, gender or disability, calling abortion in such cases “reminiscent of the social evil of eugenics,” a belief that the human race can be improved through controlled breeding.
There was additional good news coming out of Kentucky yesterday.
According to Yetter, Sen. Whitney Westerfield has introduced a bill modeled after the federal “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” which Democrats were able to prevent from coming to a vote on February 25.