Ky. abortion rights group launches new ad opposing constitutional amendment

In its first television ad ahead of the November election, a campaign working to protect abortion access in Kentucky focuses on the lack of medical exceptions under a proposed constitutional amendment.

The television ad from Protect Kentucky Access shows testimonial from Courtney Bennett, a Kentucky woman who says she wanted her pregnancy, but both she and her baby experienced medical complications that necessitated an abortion.

“Everyone hopes for a healthy pregnancy. That wasn’t my story,” Bennett says. “We wanted this baby, but both me and the baby were at risk.”

In the 30-second ad, Bennett said, “Kentucky politicians don’t understand: their mandate will put women’s lives in danger. It’s an impossible decision. I can’t imagine a politician making it for me.”

If voters approve Amendment 2, which would add words to the constitution that make clear there’s no protected right to abortion in Kentucky, it will mean “no abortions, no exceptions,” Bennett said. “Amendment 2 goes too far. Please, for our family and yours, vote no.”

PKA purchased air time for the ad that hit cable and satellite airwaves Friday in media markets as far west as Paducah and as far east as Charleston and Huntington, WVa., as well as Lexington, Louisville and Bowling Green.

In Lexington, alone, PKA spent nearly $30,000 for the ad slots, which will run through early October, according to Federal Communications Commission filings.

The opposition campaign, Yes For Life, has not purchased television ad space in these regions. At campaign filing deadlines in mid September, PKA had raised four times as much money as its opposition, raking in nearly $1.5 million compared to Yes For Life’s roughly $350,000 in 2022.

With Kentucky’s trigger law banning abortion in place after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer, there is heightened focus on the constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot that would solidify that loss of access. The effort to amend the state constitution to make clear there’s no protected right to abortion in Kentucky is the product of a GOP-backed law passed in 2021.

In the ballot box on November 8, voters will be asked to vote “Yes” or “No” on adding this statement to the Kentucky Constitution: “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.”

Though this amendment would not itself result in a ban on abortion, it would bar courts from interpreting a right to abortion within the state constitution and grant sole regulatory authority on this issue to the General Assembly, Republican-controlled body that has aggressively sought to eliminate the right to abortion in recent years. There are no exceptions written into the proposed constitutional amendment for medical complications, or in cases of pregnancy caused by rape, incest, or fetal anomalies that would make survival after birth impossible.

Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Protect Kentucky Access, said in a statement, “No matter how we personally feel about abortion, Amendment 2 is a one-size-fits-all approach to a complex issue. It does not take into account the tragic circumstances that could lead to end a wanted pregnancy.”

Sweet, who was tapped to lead PKA after managing the Kansas campaign that successfully defended abortion access in early August, continued, “By providing no exceptions for a woman’s life or health, Amendment 2 goes too far.”