FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 24, 2020) – Governor Beshear’s veto of Senate Bill 9 is reprehensible. The Governor, who claims to have everyday family values, vetoed a bill that would require babies born after failed abortions to receive live-saving medical care.
His veto is an affront to the people of Kentucky, whose elected representatives voted in a bipartisan manner for the bill.
It’s also disheartening that he would issue a veto against a bill that gives my office the authority to hold abortion clinics accountable to the law. The people of Kentucky elected me to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth, and I had hoped that Governor Beshear would welcome having me as a partner with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services in enforcing our health and safety laws, rather than rebuking the people’s wishes.
While the Governor’s purported reason for vetoing the bill was to avoid creating unnecessary divisiveness during this health crisis, there is no more divisive action than to veto a bill that received support from both sides of the aisle and protects our most vulnerable.