What's next for the abortion fight in Kentucky after Constitutional Amendment 2's defeat?

Hours after voters rejected a measure known as Constitutional Amendment 2 to eliminate abortion rights from the Kentucky Constitution, opponents who worked to defeat it took a few minutes Wednesday to reflect on the victory − and look ahead.

"We know that Amendment 2 will not restore abortion access in Kentucky overnight," said Rachel Sweet, who managed the Protect Kentucky Access campaign against the measure. "But it is an important step in continuing the legal fight for abortion access in this state."

Abortion has been illegal in Kentucky, except in medical emergencies, since the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 struck down Roe v. Wade, eliminating the nearly 50-year-old federal right to abortion. Kentucky was among about a dozen states with a "trigger law" to immediately ban abortion in the event of such a ruling.

Now abortion rights advocates are turning their attention to a pending court challenge to the law, a challenge that could have been rendered moot had the constitutional amendment passed.

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Instead, the Kentucky Supreme Court on Nov. 15 will hear arguments that the Kentucky Constitution provides a right to abortion. Lawyers for the state's two abortion providers are asking the court to allow abortion services to resume while a challenge to the trigger law and a second law banning abortions after six weeks works its way through the state court system.

Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry in a preliminary ruling in July, found that the state constitution did appear to contain abortion rights, based on privacy, due process, equal protection and other provisions, and allowed abortion services to resume until the case was decided. But that ruling was blocked by a judge on the state Court of Appeals and no abortion services have been permitted until the Supreme Court hears the case and issues a ruling.

"We are very hopeful that our state lawsuit will ultimately restore abortion access in the commonwealth," said Jackie McGranahan, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, whose lawyers are involved in the case.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, an anti-abortion Republican, said he is ready to defend the two laws before the Supreme Court and has filed briefs arguing that the General Assembly, not the courts, is charged with making laws affecting abortion.

In recent years, the GOP-controlled legislature has enacted more than dozen bills meant to ban or restrict access to abortion.

Kentucky was among five states with abortion measures on the ballot Tuesday. California, Michigan and Vermont voters approved adding abortion rights to their state constitutions while a Montana ballot measure to ban some procedures remained pending as of Wednesday.

Cameron, in a statement, said he was disappointed in the defeat of Kentucky's amendment.

"While this result is disappointing, it does not change our belief that there is no right to abortion hidden in the Kentucky Constitution and that the regulation of abortion policy is a matter that belongs with our elected representatives in the General Assembly," he said.

That's the same argument more than two dozen GOP lawmakers made Oct. 27 at a news conference where they denounced alleged "misinformation" about the amendment, arguing it merely preserved the rights of members of the General Assembly, rather than judges, to make abortion laws.

"This amendment makes it clear that there is no right to abortion in the Kentucky Constitution," said Rep. Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg and chairwoman of the legislators' "pro-life caucus." "This will keep state judges in their lane of interpreting the law and not inventing new laws and new rights that the constitution doesn't speak of."

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Tate also is among lawmakers who say they do not support exemptions in cases where a pregnancy results from rape or incest − which opponents to the amendment had criticized as unduly harsh.

"Some of my best friends were conceived through rape and incest," she said. "It absolutely breaks their heart when they hear from a public position that their life is not valued."

But Sweet said she believes the defeat of the amendment sends a strong message to lawmakers that a majority of voters understood and rejected it.

"I think this does send a message to Kentucky lawmakers that they do not have carte blanche to pass whatever extreme abortion restrictions they choose," Sweet said.

Further, Sweet said, some lawmakers, as well as other supporters of the amendment, have made it clear they oppose abortion in almost all circumstances including in cases of rape, incest or fetal anomalies.

"I think perhaps where they went wrong is being very clear about what their agenda is," Sweet said.

Sen. Whitney Westerfield, a Crofton Republican, said in October that he personally does not support exemptions for abortions.

"This is really a religious and faith question for me," he said. "I don't believe we have the right to kill an innocent life God created."

Wednesday, he said he was disappointed in the outcome of the amendment vote but said he doesn't believe it was a "fair fight," with opponents raising millions more dollars than supporters. Nor does he agree the vote sends a message to lawmakers.

"That assumes the people of Kentucky were informed fairly and correctly, and they weren't," Westerfield said.

Both sides traded accusations of misleading or false claims about the amendment.

Abortion opponents, while acknowledging they lost the battle over the constitutional amendment, say they remain committed to continuing the fight in court and elsewhere.

"The overturning of Roe v. Wade showed us how much work remains to protect the right to life in Kentucky and across the country," said Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life. "We are ready to do that work.

Lawmakers could reintroduce the constitutional amendment next year, which would put it on the 2024 general election ballot. But Westerfield said, "I'm not aware if we'll do that."

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Westerfield, who has sponsored several bills to restrict abortion, said he's calling on abortion opponents to do more to promote efforts to help pregnant women and make it less likely for them to seek abortions by aiding pregnancy crisis centers or other such programs.

"I think we can do more than any law can do," he said. "It's my hope that the pro-life community won't give up. ... We'll continue to deal with it and protect life as best we can."

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

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky abortion amendment: What's next in fight to restore access