Kentucky redistricting and abortion laws up in the air

Are Republican Senate President Robert Stivers and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear capable of sitting in a room together and talking?

If you've been following the question of whether a legislative special session would be called to pass new redistricting maps — thus avoiding the chaos of a Jan. 7 candidate filing deadline before the new district boundaries are known — the answer appears to be a solid 'no,' as the two are still at loggerheads.

Also this week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case that could determine whether abortion remains legal in Kentucky, while President Joe Biden's federal vaccine and testing mandates took a pair of blows in court rulings.

Redistricting showdown

Beshear says he needs Republican leaders to step into his office and present a formal redistricting plan before he'll call a special session.

Stivers' response? "I don't plan to go to the governor on anything."

With the odds of a special session call increasingly nearing zero, we took a look at how the legislature could manage to quickly push back the deadline and pass new redistricting maps without throwing a chaotic wrench in candidates' plans to actually know what legislative or congressional district they are supposed to file in.

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Who's running?

Whether that candidate filing deadline is Jan. 7 or later that month, the date is rapidly approaching and hundreds of candidates have already filed — with some very interesting races already shaping up.

This week we examined many of those races to come in 2022, including the battle over a key Franklin Circuit Court judgeship, a liberty rebellion in House GOP primaries and an open judicial seat in Jefferson County and the Kentucky Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, another big name was added to the list, as Ft. Thomas GOP state Rep. Joe Fischer — the main sponsor of many anti-abortion bills to pass into law in recent years — announced he is taking on Justice Michelle Keller in a race for the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Keep watching those filings for others joining Supreme Court races, as four of the seven seats are up for grabs and could get interesting.

Kentucky watching the highest court

Speaking of the Supreme Court, abortion and Fischer...

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a high-stakes case on an abortion ban in Mississippi that could lead to the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision — which would instantly make abortion illegal in Kentucky, thanks to a "trigger law" passed in 2019 that Fischer sponsored.

Courier Journal reporter Debby Yetter wrote about the trigger law and how that would work if the Supreme Court upends nearly 50 years of legal precedence on the issue.

Vaccine mandate blocked

A Kentucky judge threw a wrench in Biden's vaccine mandate for federal contractors this week. U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks it from going into effect early next year.

The ruling was a win for Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and the Tennessee and Ohio attorneys general who joined him in the case — only to be followed by another federal judge issuing a nationwide injunction against another Biden vaccine mandate on medical providers who treat Medicaid and Medicare patients.

While the injunctions are in place, the appeals are likely to be litigated all the way up to the Supreme Court — a good place for Republicans to argue their cases these days.

In case you missed it

• The Kentucky Board of Education passed a new regulation to limit corporal punishment of students, which the state's top education official called "barbaric."

• Ford. Toyota. Tyson. GE. What does Kentucky's economic hot streak mean for Beshear and the state as a whole?

• Local residents still have a lot of questions about the west Louisville TIF district created by the legislature earlier this year.

• Can a circuit judge be married to the top prosecutor handling criminal cases in the same court? A central Kentucky judicial district may find out due to a new candidacy.

Staff writer Morgan Watkins contributed to this report. Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today at the top of this page.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky redistricting and abortion laws up in the air