Governor's veto of abortion bill fails
From Kentucky Citizen Digest, April, 1998

If abortion is a contentious issue, then the 1998 session should have been triply contentious. Although prolife forces have had trouble in previous sessions getting any legislation at all to pass, this year’s session yielded three bills -- but not without a fight.

Most of the debate had to do with House Bill 85, a bill that requires abortionists to inform women of the health risks of the abortion procedure as well as the developmental stage of their unborn child. The bill had to scratch and claw its way through the committee system, at times looking like it would never make it.

At one point it was placed in the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, which often serves as a graveyard for bills. After several harrowing days, however, it met with committee approval.

After being sent from the A & R committee to the floor of the House, Rep. Stine stood resolutely on the floor for almost four hours defending the bill against attacks by a small band of “pro-choice” lawmakers. It passed on the House floor 75-19.

The Senate offered far fewer obstacles than the House. The bill passed with relatively little fanfare in both the Senate committee and on the Senate floor.

The drama came when Gov. Paul Patton announced he was vetoing the bill. And although initial indications were that he was not going to press hard for the legislature to sustain his veto, bill supporters discovered that he was calling lawmakers on Easter Sunday asking for support.

Lawmakers easily overrode the veto, however, 24-11 in the Senate and 71-24 in the House.

Other prolife bills passed in the 1998 session included SB 121, a ban on partial birth abortions, and SB 217, a bill requiring abortion clinics to follow the same health and safety standards as other surgical facilities. Prolife bills that failed included HB 293, which would have given women a legal cause of action against someone for contributing to the death of an unborn child.
 

Key Family Foundation Contacts: Kent Ostrander, Executive Director Martin Cothran, Senior Associate Policy Analyst