Should Kentucky's constitution protect the right to abortion? Voters will soon decide

Kentucky voters soon will decide whether to eliminate abortion rights from the state constitution.

If approved, Constitutional Amendment 2 would add language to Kentucky’s constitution that states, “to protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.”

Nearly all abortions are currently banned in Kentucky. Abortion rights advocates are suing in state court to try and block the state’s restrictions that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.

Passage of Constitutional Amendment 2 would make it difficult for any lawsuits against Kentucky’s abortion ban to proceed.

On Cincinnati Edition, we discuss the proposed amendment and its implications. Plus we discuss an upcoming day-long colloquium put on by the University of Cincinnati College of Law exploring "Reproductive Rights Post-Dobbs." Panelists will speak about the legal, reproductive and community impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and paths forward.