311.7811 Legislative findings and declarations.
450 words·~2 min read·
/ky/chapter-311/311-7811A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The General Assembly finds and declares, according to contemporary medical research, all of the following:
(1)Medical and other authorities now know more about human prenatal
development than ever before, including:
(a)Between five
(5)and six
(6)weeks' gestation, an unborn child's heart
begins beating;
(b)At approximately eight
(8)weeks' gestation, an unborn child begins to
move about in the womb;
(c)At nine
(9)weeks' gestation, all basic physiological functions are present,
including teeth, eyes, and external genitalia;
(d)At ten
(10)weeks' gestation, an unborn child's vital organs begin to
function, and hair, fingernails, and toenails begin to form;
(e)At eleven
(11)weeks' gestation, an unborn child's diaphragm is
developing, he or she may even hiccup, and he or she is beginning to
move about freely in the womb; and
(f)At twelve
(12)weeks' gestation, an unborn child can open and close his
or her fingers, starts to make sucking motions, senses stimulation from
the world outside the womb, and has taken on "the human form" in all
relevant aspects under Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124, 160 (2007);
(2)The United States Supreme Court has long recognized that the state has an
"important and legitimate interest in protecting the potentiality of human life,"
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 162 (1973), and specifically that "the state has an
interest in protecting the life of the unborn," Planned Parenthood of
Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 873 (1992);
(3)The majority of abortion procedures performed after fifteen
(15)weeks'
gestation are dilation and evacuation procedures which involve the use of
surgical instruments to crush and tear the unborn child apart before removing
the pieces of the dead child from the womb, procedures prohibited under KRS
311.787, and the General Assembly finds that the intentional commitment of
such acts for nontherapeutic or elective reasons is a barbaric practice,
dangerous for the maternal patient, and demeaning to the medical profession;
(4)Abortion carries significant physical and psychological risks to the maternal
patient, and these physical and psychological risks increase with gestational
age;
(5)As the second trimester progresses, in the vast majority of uncomplicated
pregnancies, the maternal health risks of undergoing an abortion are greater
than the risks of carrying a pregnancy to term;
(6)Seventy-five percent (75%) of all the nations in the world do not permit abortion
after twelve
(12)weeks' gestation except, in most instances, to save the life
and preserve the physical health of the mother; and
(7)The Commonwealth of Kentucky has legitimate interests from the outset of the
pregnancy in protecting both the health of the woman and the life of an unborn
human individual who may be born.