Kentucky Heartbeat Ban (HB 132)

HB 132 is modeled after Ohio’s fetal heartbeat legislation (See, e.g., SB 297) and would have required that a person intending to perform an abortion on a pregnant woman determine through appropriate medical testing if a fetal heartbeat in the “unborn human individual” can be detected. If one is detected, the physician would have been required to inform the woman at least 24 hours before the procedure of the statistical probability of viability.  The woman would then have been required to sign a form acknowledging the information.

If a fetal heartbeat is detected, HB 132 would have prohibited the performance of an abortion unless the procedure is medically necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or prevent a serious risk of the substantial, irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.

A violation of the law would have been a Class A Misdemeanor and subjected the physician who violated the law to discipline by the licensing agency.

STATUS

HB 132 was sent to the Health and Welfare Committee where it died.

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