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Legislature Advances Anti-Abortion Bills In Flurry Of Votes

J. Tyler Franklin

The state House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring doctors to conduct an ultrasound on women seeking abortions and provide a detailed description of the unborn fetus. It’s the first bill to pass out of the newly Republican chamber.

Rep. Stan Lee, a Republican from Lexington, said he was honored that the first legislation passing out of the House this year is an anti-abortion bill.

“It is as it should be. And I think the Lord is going to honor us in all our other work for doing this,” Lee said.

The bill now heads to the state Senate, where it’s expected to easily pass. The abortion sonogram bill and a handful of other Republican priorities are on track to pass out of the legislature this week.

Protesters gathered in the Capitol rotunda to show their opposition to the bill and a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which passed the Senate on Thursday.

A similar sonogram law in North Carolina was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court in 2014 and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up the case the next year.

Ryland Barton is the Managing Editor for Collaboratives for Kentucky Public Radio, a group of public radio stations including WKMS, WFPL in Louisville, WEKU in Richmond and WKYU in Bowling Green. A native of Lexington, Ryland most recently served as the Capitol Reporter for Kentucky Public Radio. He has covered politics and state government for NPR member stations KWBU in Waco and KUT in Austin.
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