Kentucky has several pieces of legislation and a proposed constitutional amendment that would be significantly affected if the leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade becomes final and at least one local legislator says he’d support a complete ban on abortion in the commonwealth.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Whitney Westerfield of Christian County says he was stunned that the draft was leaked by someone in the court system and believes that person should be held professionally accountable.
Westerfield has been a driving force behind several bills passed over the last few years restricting when and how an abortion can be performed in Kentucky and says the legal arguments in the pending court battles over those measures change drastically if Roe is overturned.
Voters will be asked to decide in November on a state constitutional amendment that would prohibit the state Supreme Court from issuing its own decision guaranteeing the right to have an abortion in Kentucky.
The Kentucky General Assembly could have the legal ability to ban abortion in all instances, should the leaked draft become the final decision, and Senator Westerfield says he’d support an across-the-board abortion ban.
Westerfield and others remind that the leak is only a draft and the decision could certainly change before a final official decision is released later this year.
Overturning Roe v. Wade would mean each state would ultimately decide its own abortion policies.