PRESS RELEASE
CPC Responds to Senate Bill 99
January 10, 2024
CONTACT: Richard Nelson (richard@commonwealthpolicy.org)
(Frankfort, KY) – CPC supports Kentucky’s current principled, pro-life protections. We are opposing Senate Bill 99 because it does not recognize the personhood of the unborn child and undermines Kentucky’s pro-life laws. CPC Executive Director Richard Nelson said, “We agree with Sen. David Yates (D-Louisville) that we should have compassion and empathy. However, we disagree that it is compassionate to end the life of an innocent human being based on how they were conceived.”
Since 2017, Kentucky legislators have said over a dozen times that human life is precious and should be protected by law. “We do not question the very real trauma and heartache that comes with sexual assault. These young women deserve nothing but compassion and need our full support,” Nelson said. “But we do question the unraveling of legal protections for human life based on traumatic circumstances.”
“We should not determine if a child has a right to life based on their sex, race, parents, position in society, or how they were conceived. That’s why this abortion exceptions bill is wrong.”
“When it comes to who should live and who should die, a compassionate society doesn’t include that as a choice,” Nelson said. “This society prosecutes the perpetrator and assists mothers in their path towards healing and wholeness.”
CPC has and will continue to urge state lawmakers to increase penalties for rapists and increase financial aid and care for victims of rape and incest who become pregnant with a child. CPC calls on Kentucky’s pro-life constitutional officers and legislators to stand strong in their convictions and care for victimized mothers and their unborn children. These initiatives will be central to our efforts in this legislative session.