Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed a measure on Friday that would ban abortions in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Several other states, such as Arizona, Florida and Mississippi have created similar legislation.
In his veto letter, Beshear said the legislation, House Bill 3, is “likely” unconstitutional and criticized it for not allowing exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest.
“Rape and incest are violent crimes. Victims of these crimes should have options, not be further scarred through a process that exposes them to more harm from their rapists or that treats them like offenders themselves,” the letter stated.
“Furthermore, House Bill 3 is likely unconstitutional. Similar statutes in Texas and Louisiana have been ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court,” he argued in the letter.
Mississippi’s 15-week abortion is currently under review by the Supreme Court and could overturn landmark cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Twelve to 15 week abortion bans are mainstream in most European countries.
This week, Townhall also covered how Beshear vetoed a bill that would have prohibited biological male transgender athletes from competing on girls’ sports teams at public and private schools in the state.
In his veto letter, Beshear said that a policy protecting the integrity of women’s sports is already enforced by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association because “the KHSAA has approached the issue of transgender sports participation with nuance, collabortaion and a sense of fairness that would allow transgender children the oppotunity to participate in sports without disturbing the competitive balance” and the “under the KHSAA policy a student-athlete cannot compete if they have an unfair advantage.”
In addition, Beshear noted that GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah vetoed similar legislation because they were concerned it would instigate lawsuits.