Cameron says he’d add exceptions to KY abortion law if courts ‘made us change that law’

Attorney General Daniel Cameron made headlines last week for softening his stance on Kentucky’s abortion ban by publicly saying “there’s no question” he’d sign legislation adding exceptions for rape and incest.

But comments made by Cameron, the GOP nominee for governor hoping to unseat Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, at a London campaign stop Tuesday now indicate he’d only add such exceptions “if the courts made us change that law.”

“I support the Human Life Protection Act, which I have defended,” Cameron says of the trigger law in an audio recording reviewed by the Herald-Leader. “My point was that if... we are in a fight with the courts right now. And so if the courts were to strike down and say that we needed to add (exceptions), of course I would sign that because I still want to protect life. But that would just be based on if our courts made that change; it wouldn’t be me, proactively.”

Under Cameron’s direction, the Office of the Attorney General has been a staunch defender of Kentucky’s current abortion laws, and as a candidate, he’s promised to promote a “culture of life” in Kentucky.

Following the reversal of Roe v. Wade last year, Kentucky’s trigger ban took effect, criminalizing abortion except when a pregnant person’s life is threatened. Concurrently, a fetal heartbeat law, or six-week ban, also became enforceable. That law outlaws abortion after fetal cardiac activity is detected, typically around six weeks of pregnancy.

The combination of both laws has led to a virtual elimination of abortion in Kentucky.

In response to Herald-Leader questions about the audio recording, including under what exact conditions Cameron would support the addition of exceptions, the campaign said: “He supports the Human Life Protection Act. But if the legislature were to bring him a bill with exceptions, he would sign it.”

The response did not address if the courts would first have to compel the legislature to pass such a bill.

Beshear campaign spokesperson Alex Floyd said Cameron has “told Kentuckians again and again that he thinks a 12-year-old rape survivor should be forced to give birth.

“The reason he twists himself into knots on answers like this is because he knows the vast majority of Kentuckians find his view cruel and dangerous.”

In the audio, Cameron’s comments are prompted by a woman who tells him she’s “a little disappointed” he’s “wavered a little bit on protections for life.” After his initial answer, she then says she can “still trust you to be a full-out, working as much as possible, to get rid of abortion, as much as possible.”

Cameron tells her that EMW Women’s Surgical Center, a former clinic in Louisville, was closed because of the work of his office.

“This was about if the courts made us change that law, and they made us add those, then of course I would sign that because I would have to,” Cameron says.

A Sept. 18 appearance on the Tony & Dwight show on NewsRadio 840 WHAS in Louisville is what prompted renewed scrutiny of Cameron’s position on abortion exceptions.

“If our legislature was to bring legislation before me that provided exceptions for rape and incest, I would sign that legislation,” Cameron said on the show. “There’s no question about that.”

In a statement to the Herald-Leader last week, the Cameron campaign said he is “the pro-life candidate for Governor and supports the Human Life Protection Act. But if the situation in Kentucky were to change and the legislature brought him a bill to add exceptions for rape and incest, he would, of course, sign it.”

Prior to the show, Cameron had repeatedly defended his position of supporting the current law.

“I’m not going to waver in my position on this, and we’re going to continue to defend the law as is,” he said at one candidate forum.

Cameron also confirmed his past position against rape and incest exceptions in a Kentucky Right to Life questionnaire. It prompts a “yes” or “no” answer to the following question: “Do you believe that a child conceived as a result of sexual assault should be protected by the same laws protecting the lives of children conceived naturally?”

Cameron scored 100%, earning him the group’s endorsement for being an “unwavering defender” of Kentucky’s abortion laws.

Abortion has become a key issue in the governor’s race in recent weeks, as both candidates seek to portray their opponent as the extremist on the issue.

Beshear released a new ad last week featuring a young woman who was raped by her stepfather as a preteen.

“Anyone who believes there should be no exceptions for rape and incest could never understand what it’s like to stand in my shoes,” the survivor, Hadley, says directly to the camera in the commercial. “This is to you, Daniel Cameron: to tell a 12-year-old girl she must have the baby of her stepfather, who raped her, is unthinkable. I’m speaking out because women and girls need to have options. Daniel Cameron would give us none.”

On Tuesday, Cameron Press Secretary Courtney Yopp Norris tied Beshear to Planned Parenthood, whose political action committee is planning to run at least $200,000 of anti-Cameron ads.

“Will he call on Planned Parenthood, an extremist organization that supports taxpayer funded abortions, to stop spending on his behalf?” she said in an email to the Herald-Leader.