Kentucky

A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that overturned Kentucky’s ban on a common abortion procedure called dilation and evacuation, saying it would impose a burden on women seeking abortions.

Kentucky’s Republican-led state legislature passed the ban in 2018, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Matt Bevin.

EMW Women’s Surgical Center in Louisville, at the time the state’s only abortion provider, sued over the law, saying it would all but eliminate abortions after the 13th week of pregnancy — the time frame when dilation and evacuation procedure is most commonly used.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll only support sending more federal funds to state and local governments if the money is spent on responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and governors across the country have been pleading with Congress to prop up struggling state budgets during the pandemic amid a massive decline in income and sales tax revenues—taxpayers are making and spending less money.

Governor Andy Beshear said some childcare programs can resume as soon as June 8. Beshear said in-home childcare programs that care for 10 or less children can re-open on the 8th and larger childcare centers will be allowed to open on June 15.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced Tuesday the hospitalization of a second minor due to the coronavirus.

The Kentucky legislature again declined to pass a bill explicitly banning lawmakers from sexually harassing their employees during this year’s legislative session.

The legislature’s ethics rules don’t currently ban sexual harassment, though lawmakers have been punished for harassing employees under a rule that bans misuse of their official positions.

House Bill 168, sponsored by Taylor Mill Republican Rep. Kim Moser, would have defined sexual harassment as an ethical violation and created a process for the Legislative Ethics Commission to review sexual harassment complaints.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced during his May 7 press conference the next phase of the state’s reopening will be initiated sooner than expected. Phase 2 will begin May 22 with restaurant reopenings and at a later date allow movie theaters, fitness centers, campgrounds, childcare facilities, and youth sports to reopen. 

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear today announced a new travel ban that he said is “exactly like Ohio’s [ban].” A federal judge ruled Tuesday Beshear’s travel restrictions during the pandemic were unconstitutional.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear responded Sunday to weekend protests at the state capitol against social distancing policies.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s schedule to restart the economy appears to contradict his administration’s own benchmarks for when it is safe to reopen.

Just ten days ago, Beshear said it would not be enough to flatten the curve before reopening. Following guidance from the White House, Beshear said Kentucky would need to see 14 days of declining cases before making any announcements.

“If we are there, that’s great, but remember what the White House has said and what we know is we actually need two weeks of going down,” he said.

But on Wednesday, Beshear announced a phased reopening of the Commonwealth while acknowledging confirmed cases of coronavirus have “plateaued,” but not yet declined.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced during his April 29 daily COVID-19 update the first phase of an incremental reopening of the commonwealth’s economy. Beshear held the briefing at the Kentucky Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort. 

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has vetoed the so-called “born alive” abortion bill, saying that doctors are already required to give life-saving medical care to infants that survive abortions.

The bill, which passed in the final hours of this year’s legislative session, also would have given Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron power to regulate abortions in the state and shut down providers during the coronavirus pandemic.

During his daily press conference on Friday, Beshear said that supporters of the bill sought to create divisions during the coronavirus pandemic.

  The Kentucky General Assembly overrode several of Gov. Andy Beshear’s vetoes, passed a constitutional amendment and advanced several other bills on the second to last day of this year’s session.