As you may have seen in recent news reports, a bill has been pre-filed in the Kentucky legislature to outlaw abortion in the state. Due to its cruel and unconstitutional nature, it’s unlikely that the bill will pass and become law, but it may be useful to understand this proposal as it represents an extremist goal post for reproductive healthcare.

This bill comes from Representative Dan Johnson, out of Bullitt County. Johnson is the head of Heart of Fire Church on Bardstown Rd, a church with a shocking amount of guns featured on their YouTube page. Johnson is most famous for racist remarks he made on his Facebook page leading up to his election. Despite comparing the Obamas to chimpanzees, he won election into the KY legislature.

The most striking and extreme of the changes to Kentucky Revised Statutes in this bill is the change to Kentucky’s Fetal Homicide laws. Under the Abolition of Abortion in Kentucky Act, Fetal Homicide Laws would apply both to a physician who performs an abortion as well as the person receiving the abortion. This bill would make abortion a capital offense though the death penalty is prohibited.

Curiously enough, KRS 311.760, which defines when a KY woman can receive an abortion (during the first trimester) is left intact. This is likely an oversight which speaks to the incompetent nature of the bill’s authorship.

Laced throughout this bill is language establishing Kentucky state law and the Kentucky state constitution over the laws and judicial decisions of the United States government. If this law were to pass the KY legislature and get signed by Governor Matt Bevin, it certainly would not hold up in court. It is blatantly unconstitutional and contradicts 40+ years of Supreme Court rulings on abortion rights. It’s unlikely to even make it out of the legislature and go to Bevin’s desk, but this GOP-led legislature together with Bevin have a habit of wasting money and resources on bad laws. How much money will KY waste in a vain attempt to antagonize federal authority?

This terrible bill speaks to some of the end goals of the anti-choice movement. Not only does this movement seek to punish abortion providers, but they want the ability to charge anyone who seeks an abortion with a capital crime.