Kentucky lawmakers introduced a bill recently to protect unborn babies from brutal dismemberment abortions.
State House Bill 454 would “prohibit an abortion on a pregnant woman that will result in the bodily dismemberment, crushing, or human vivisection of the unborn child” after 11 weeks of pregnancy. Exceptions would be allowed for medical emergencies.
The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill Wednesday, despite opposition from abortion activists, the Courier-Journal reports. They complained the bill would outlaw a common second-trimester abortion procedure referred to as D&E.
State health department data indicates 537 unborn babies were aborted in 2016 by D&E.
Kentucky is one of numerous states considering a ban on inhumane dismemberment abortions. These types of abortions typically happen in the second trimester and involve tearing the unborn baby limb from limb while their heart is still beating.
The local news reported more from the committee hearing:
Tamarra Wieder, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Indiana and Kentucky, said the bill uses intentionally inflammatory language.
“Let’s be honest here: House Bill 454 is attempting to curtail full access to abortion in the commonwealth, which is unconstitutional and dangerous,” she said.
But state Rep. Addia Wuchner, R-Florence, pointed out that the bill would not prohibit all abortion methods after the 11-week mark.
“While there is no doubt that I am pro-life, this is not a total ban on abortion in the commonwealth after 11 weeks,” she said.
What HB 464 would do is outlaw a procedure that is “gruesome, brutal and not necessary,” Wuchner said.
The full state House will consider the bill next.
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A handful of states already have passed dismemberment abortion bans. In 2017, a federal judge blocked the Texas law, claiming it is unconstitutional. Planned Parenthood is involved in the lawsuit; however, the state is appealing.
The law made Texas the eighth state to protect developing preborn children from such a heinous act. Earlier in 2017, Arkansas enacted the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act joining Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and West Virginia.
The dismemberment abortion ban embodies model legislation from the National Right to Life Committee that would prohibit “dismemberment abortion,” using forceps, clamps, scissors or similar instruments on a living unborn baby to remove him or her from the womb in pieces. Such instruments typically are used in dilation and evacuation (D&E) procedures.
