Abortion bills gain no ground in Kentucky with ban in place

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Abortion-rights supporters in Republican-leaning Kentucky thought they had finally achieved a breakthrough when voters in November defeated a measure aimed at denying any constitutional protections for abortion. But their hopes that the state’s sweeping abortion ban might be relaxed vanished well before the GOP-dominated Legislature ended its annual session. After years of making anti-abortion policies a cornerstone of their agenda, Republicans skipped over the issue this year. They left intact a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy while it’s hashed out in the courts. Instead, social conservatives focused on enacting legislation aimed at transgender youths during the session that ended Thursday.