FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky House Health and Welfare Committee shot down a bill Tuesday to limit abortions.
The vote on Senate Bill 79 was 8-8, effectively stopping the proposal for this legislative session. Still, advocates of the bill declined to declare it dead, saying they might consider various parliamentary moves to revive the measure.
The bill would require a woman seeking an abortion to have a face-to-face consultation with a physician and be presented with an ultrasound of the fetus.
Rep. Reginald Meeks, D-Louisville, said he was torn by the vote, noting that another lawmaker had threatened to hold one of his bills hostage in another committee if he didn’t support the proposal. Meeks said he was not going to be held hostage and voted against SB 79. He did not identify the other legislator during the committee meeting.
Passionate testimony about the bill was heard from both sides.