Attendees at a reproductive freedom rally in the Kentucky Capitol Rotunda hold signs. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)

FRANKFORT — Just as the Senate and House gaveled in, supporters of reproductive rights rallied in the Capitol rotunda Thursday to call Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban cruel and ask lawmakers to undo it. 

The Rev. Elwood Sturtevant, a board member at Kentucky Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, called it a “myth” that abortion is the antithesis of religion. 

“Most religious people do not support abortion bans,” he said. “Majorities of non-evangelical protestants, Black protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddists and humanitarian activists all believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.” 

Beth Salamon, a lawyer and the state policy advocate for the National Council for Jewish Women, echoed this idea at the rally, which was organized by Planned Parenthood. 

“We have laws in Kentucky protecting religious liberty, but whose religious liberty is being protected?” Salamon asked. “As a leader in the Louisville Jewish community, I am a proud advocate for reproductive freedom from a faith-based perspective.” 

Most Kentuckians lost abortion access when, in June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe. V. Wade, which had established the constitutional right to abortion. Kentucky’s trigger law went into effect immediately, which bans abortion except when the mother’s life is at risk. 

“I call upon our legislators to protect all religious freedoms,” Salamon said, “not just one that supports their agenda.” 

‘It’s always been about controlling women’ 

Earlier Thursday, House Democratic Caucus Whip Lindsey Burke, D-Lexington, told reporters at a news conference that her bill to undo Kentucky’s trigger law would address the “increasingly alarming ways” Kentucky’s ban plays out. 

Burke, who is pregnant with her second child thanks to in vitro fertilization, has filed this legislation every year since Roe was overturned. 

KY lawmaker under ‘no delusion’ bill restoring abortion access will pass. She’s filing it anyway.

Burke previously told the Lantern she was under “no delusion” her efforts to undo the abortion ban would be successful this year. She said Thursday she is leaning into another bill she filed in January, which would ensure the privacy of medical records for those who leave the state for abortions. 

“I understand that for many Republicans, a full reversal to the former state of the law is impossible,” Burke said. “But, perhaps the way we can address that is by agreeing that no woman should be criminalized for doing something that’s legal in another state.” 

Tamarra Wieder with Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates called Kentucky’s current law, which does not have exceptions for rape or incest, extreme. 

“Surviving sexual violence is already a nightmare,” she said. “Forcing someone to remain pregnant after is a cruelty beyond measure.” 

Both Republicans and Democrats have introduced bills seeking to add exceptions to the abortion ban over the past several years, but none have advanced. 

Burke called exceptions bills an “illusion of help” that offer “false hope” and “stifle the long-term conversation.” She also expressed concern over some federal appetite for a nationwide ban on abortion. 

“The talking point for the longest time among Republicans was that this decision should be returned to the states, and that the reversal in Dobbs left it to the states to decide what’s appropriate in terms of women’s health care and reproductive care, but now we’re seeing Republicans in Washington file federal abortion bans,” Burke said.

“So what that tells me is that the first talking point was illegitimate, and it’s always been about controlling women and forcing them to do the things that men want them to do. We can’t live in that world. We won’t live in that world. We’re going to fight against it with everything we have.” 

Roe ruling a ‘gut punch’  

Hadley Duvall, who appeared in campaign ads for Gov. Andy Beshear speaking about being raped by her stepfather and getting pregnant at 12 years old, said during the rotunda rally that Roe’s overturn was “a gut punch.” 

Duvall has openly shared about being sexually abused by her stepfather starting at the age of 5. 

“I didn’t even know what I was going through was not normal because sex education failed me,” Duvall said. “The abuse was natural. It was not any different until I was holding a pregnancy test and hearing that I had options.” 

Duvall miscarried before she got an abortion. She criticised lawmakers during the rally for exercising the “luxury of choice” in deciding which bills to hear and not hear and said “regardless of what party you affiliate with, it is widely agreed that nobody wants a politician with you in the doctor’s office when making … decisions.” 

“I want to know if any lawmakers are prepared to look at a victim that they love and tell them that they wholeheartedly believe they do not deserve options,” Duvall said. “I want to know if any lawmakers are prepared to wait for themselves or for a loved one to meet death at the perfect time for the provider to intervene. I want to know if any lawmakers are prepared to stand up and claim responsibility for what’s going on in Kentucky.”