FRANKFORT, Ky. _ April Lanham, a Daviess County woman expecting her fourth child, broke into tears Thursday in a state Senate committee as a fetal Doppler device was placed on her belly and a heartbeat was heard.
The emotional moment came at the end of state Sen. Matt Castlen's presentation of Senate Bill 9, which would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually around six weeks into a pregnancy.
Lanham, a resident of Castlen's district who is 18 weeks' pregnant, said she agreed to the demonstration because she is against abortion.
The Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee voted 10-2 to send the bill to the full Senate, which later approved it on a 31-6 vote and sent it to the House for its consideration. The measure has an emergency clause, which means it would take effect upon approval of the Senate, House and Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican who supports the bill.
There was no debate on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, but several senators who voted against it questioned its constitutionality.
Senate President Robert Stivers, a Manchester Republican, said the issue is not about politics or the constitution. "It's about life," he said.
Opponents of the bill, including Kate Miller, advocacy director for ACLU-Kentucky, said the bill is unconstitutional and her organization will file suit to stop its enforcement if it becomes law in Kentucky.
She noted during the committee hearing that the ACLU has been victorious in other legal challenges in Kentucky and that many taxpayers' dollars have been spent trying to defend the Legislature's bills to restrict abortions.
Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, a Democrat running for governor this year, said last month that the bill is unconstitutional.
Some lawmakers, including Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, a Georgetown Republican, have said a lawsuit over the bill could become a vehicle for the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a woman's legal right to an abortion.
Tamarra Wieder, public affairs and policy director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Indiana and Kentucky, told the committee that the bill provides no exemptions for rape, incest or fetal anomalies.
Susan Bornstein, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Kentucky, said the bill could prevent Kentuckians from getting abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy _ before most know they are pregnant.
Others testifying against the bill were the Rev. Derek Penwell, pastor of the Douglass Boulevard Christian Church in Louisville and a member of Concerned Clergy for Choice; Nicole Stipp, a Louisville resident and business owner who received abortion services; and Katie Vandergrift of Midway, a patient advocate.
They argued that women in Kentucky should be allowed to make their own personal, private decisions about their health and medical care.
Joining Castlen, an Owensboro Repubican, in testifying for the bill were Jeanne Bramer, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Louisville; Claire Culwell of Austin, Texas, who said she survived an abortion attempt; and Abby Johnson, who formerly worked for Planned Parenthood in Texas.
Bramer said a fetus is "more than a clump of cells" and should be protected.
Johnson had strong criticism of the bill's opponents, saying they would oppose the measure even if it had exemptions. She claimed opponents were "intellectually dishonest" and that "people who say abortion should be between a woman and her doctor are laughable."
"We look forward to your lawsuit," she told the ACLU's Miller.
The two senators voting against the bill were Democrats Denise Harper Angel and Perry Clark of Louisville.
Harper Angel said she did not understand why the Legislature would jeopardize scarce taxpayers' funds on "a clearly unconstitutional bill."
Clark said no one likes abortion but the choice should always be between a woman and her doctor.
He said lawmakers have no idea of the lives of young single women who are impregnated by married men and "live in small counties and their life is s--- from that point on."
The decision ultimately belongs to the woman, he said.
