Opponents of Kentucky abortion amendment celebrate its defeat

Deborah Yetter, Louisville Courier Journal
·4 min read
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A clear message and a strong "grass roots" effort helped opponents defeat a measure on Tuesday's ballot meant to eliminate abortion rights from the state constitution, members of a campaign organized to fight it said on a press call Wednesday.

"While our opponents have complained ceaselessly about what they called out-of-state activists, what we saw on the ground was hundreds, if not thousands, of Kentuckians working together to stop the politicians and special interests that put their freedom at risk," said Rachel Sweet, manager of the Protect Kentucky Access campaign.

Supporters of Constitutional Amendment 2, led by Yes for Life, raised that complaint in a statement early Wednesday on the defeat of the measure on a vote of about 53% to 48%, a difference of almost 70,000 votes.

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"We are devastated that radical, out-of-state activists spent millions of dollars to confuse Kentuckians about the Yes for Life amendment," the Yes for Life Alliance said in a statement.

And Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, said in a statement that amendment supporters won't quit the fight.

"Today, we are disappointed," said Wuchner, who also is chairwoman of Yes for Life. "But tomorrow, we will be motivated. This work is too important to quit, and we look forward to the next phase of pro-life advocacy in Kentucky."

Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, testified in support of a bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol Annex in Frankfort on March 10, 2022.
Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, testified in support of a bill that would ban abortion after 15 weeks during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol Annex in Frankfort on March 10, 2022.

Kentucky was one of five states with abortion measures on the ballot. Voters in California, Michigan and Vermont voted to protect abortion rights in their state constitutions while a measure in Montana to limit abortion in some circumstances remained pending Wednesday.

Kentucky's one-sentence proposed amendment stated:

"To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion."

Amendment opponents acknowledged Wednesday their work isn't over and that they will continue to try to restore access to abortion in Kentucky − which currently is illegal except for medical emergencies. Current law provides no exemptions for pregnancy from rape or incest or fetal anomalies that threaten the health of the pregnant individual or the fetus.

But for now, the rejection of the amendment offers a possibility of restoring abortion access through legal challenges to such state laws.

Jackie McGranahan, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, testified against a bill to allow the state auditor to audit reports of abortion facilities.
Jackie McGranahan, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, testified against a bill to allow the state auditor to audit reports of abortion facilities.

"We all know that abortion remains illegal in Kentucky," said Jackie McGranahan, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, a member of Protect Kentucky Access. "But this victory has left Kentucky's very strong constitutional privacy protections intact."

A lawsuit on behalf of Kentucky's two abortion providers, Planned Parenthood and EMW Women's Surgical Center, is pending before the state Supreme Court. It seeks a temporary ruling to allow them to resume abortion services while a challenge to Kentucky abortion laws works its way through the state court system.

McGranahan said the ACLU, whose lawyers are involved in the case, will continue the court fight to restore abortion access that ended in Kentucky after the Supreme Court on June 24 struck down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established abortion as a federal constitutional right. Kentucky was among about a dozen states with a "trigger law" to outlaw abortion in the event of such a ruling.

Meanwhile, Protect Kentucky Access members disputed claims that they relied on "out-of-state activists" to defeat the amendment.

Sweet, who ran the Kansas campaign to defeat a similar abortion amendment in August, said Protect Kentucky Access consisted of seven organizations "with deep roots in the commonwealth," including Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the Kentucky Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the Fairness Campaign.

Moreover, scores of volunteers from 99 of 120 Kentucky counties worked to get out the group's message before Election Day through more than 600,000 contacts with voters through calls, text messages and going door-to-door, she said.

"We had a really strong field program and a really strong ground game," Sweet said.

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Protect Kentucky Access also raised more than $5 million for its campaign − compared to about $1 million raised by Yes for Life − which Sweet said gave the anti-amendment campaign resources it needed to reach voters.

Sweet said opponents defeated the amendment with the help of Democratic, Republican and independent voters who understood the amendment and believed it went too far.

"Amendment 2 would give politicians the power to ban abortions with no exceptions," she said. "We are really pleased to see that message resonated and got through."

Contact reporter Deborah Yetter at dyetter@courier-journal.com or on Twitter at @d_yetter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Abortion rights supporters celebrate defeat of Kentucky's Amendment 2