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November 8, 2022 (2022-11-08) | |||||||||||||
Are you in favor of amending the Constitution of Kentucky by creating a new Section of the Constitution to be numbered Section 26A to state as follows: To protect human life, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion? | |||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
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 County results Congressional district results State Senate district results State House district results
Results by county | |||||||||||||
| Source:Kentucky State Board of Elections | |||||||||||||
Kentucky Amendment 2 was a rejectedlegislatively referred constitutional amendment to theKentucky Constitution, which was voted on as part of the2022 elections. If enacted, the amendment would have declared that nothing in the Kentucky Constitution could be construed to protect a right to an abortion or public funding of an abortion.[1]
Kentucky was one of six states to vote on an abortion-related referendum as part of the2022 elections, alongside California, Michigan, Montana, Kansas, and Vermont.[2] This was in the immediate aftermath of theUnited States Supreme Court's decision inDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which held that theUnited States Constitution did not confer a right to an abortion, allowing individual states to permit, regulate, or prohibit abortion. In 2022, Kentucky was the only one of these states with both an active abortion ban and an active abortion referendum. Following the results of the referendum, Kentucky's abortion ban was contested by abortion providers to theKentucky Supreme Court, which in February 2023 ruled that the providers lacked standing to challenge the state's abortion ban.[3][4] As of 2024, abortions remain illegal in Kentucky.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision inDobbs, atrigger law went into effect banning any abortions in Kentucky unless necessary to prevent death or physical impairment of a pregnant woman.[5] This ban was temporarily blocked by a court on June 30, 2022, then re-instated by a higher court on August 1, 2022.[6]
The amendment was introduced in theKentucky Legislature in March 2021 as HB 91.[7] It was supported byKentucky Right to Life and opposed by theACLU of Kentucky.Supporters of the amendment organized as the groupYes for Life, while opponents of the amendment organized as the groupProtect Kentucky Access.[1]
Amendments to the Kentucky Constitution require 3/5 support in both houses of the General Assembly and a majority vote by referendum; they can not bevetoed by the governor. The amendment was first introduced on January 5 in the2021 General Assembly asHouse Bill 91 by representativeJoseph Fischer. The bill subsequently passed both houses.
The bill was initially passed by the house on February 25 by a 76–20 vote. RepresentativesTom Burch andReginald Meeks, who did not vote, later modified their votes to nay.[8]
| Party | Votes for | Votes against | Not voting | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (25) | 20 | 3 | ||
| Republican (75) | 74 | – | 1 | |
| Total (100) | 76 | 20 | 4 | |
The bill was approved by the senate on March 30 by a 32–6 vote.
| Party | Votes for | Votes against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (8) | 6 | ||
| Republican (30) | 30 | – | |
| Total (38) | 32 | 6 | |
Supporters of the "Yes" campaign claimed that the amendment was a safeguard againstjudicial activism and a potential state-levelRoe v. Wade decision by the Kentucky Supreme Court. They argued that late-term abortion and public funding for abortion would become common in Kentucky were the amendment to fail.[1]
Supporters of the "No" campaign claimed that abortion would become permanently banned in Kentucky were the amendment to succeed, and thatexceptions for rape and incest could never become law under the proposed amendment.
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 No | 742,232 | 52.35 |
| Yes | 675,634 | 47.65 |
| Total votes | 1,417,866 | 100.00 |
| Source:Secretary of State of Kentucky | ||
"No" won three of six congressional districts, including two that elected Republicans.[9]
| District | No | Yes | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42.7% | 57.3% | ▌James Comer (R) |
| 2 | 47.4% | 52.6% | ▌Brett Guthrie (R) |
| 3 | 72.3% | 27.7% | ▌John Yarmuth (D -117th Congress) |
| ▌Morgan McGarvey (D -118th Congress) | |||
| 4 | 51.5% | 48.5% | ▌Thomas Massie (R) |
| 5 | 36.3% | 63.7% | ▌Hal Rogers (R) |
| 6 | 60.4% | 39.6% | ▌Andy Barr (R) |
The uniform results in Kentucky, Montana, California, Vermont, and Michigan abortion referendums were seen as a victory for the pro-choice movement, and were praised by pro-choice organizations and activists.Anti-abortion organizations such asSusan B. Anthony Pro-Life America attributed their losses to misinformation and large amounts of outside spending from the pro-choice side.[10]
State attorney generalDaniel Cameron stated that the failure of the amendment should have no impact on whether the Kentucky Constitution contains the right to an abortion.[11]
On February 16, 2023, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that abortion providers lackedstanding to challenge the state's abortion ban, but did not elaborate on whether or not the Kentucky Constitution secured abortion rights.[4]
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See also:Political party strength in Kentucky | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
