The GOP-controlled House introduced legislation Monday to ease Kentucky’s nearly total abortion ban, by creating limited exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or sex. This issue was at the forefront of the governor’s race last year.

Ken Fleming, a Republican state representative from Pennsylvania, filed the bill on the final day for new House bills to be introduced during this year’s session of 60 days. House Speaker David Osborne said that the GOP supermajority in the chamber has not discussed abortion legislation.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Roe v. Wade, in 2022, Kentucky has had a near-total ban on abortions. In Kentucky, the so-called “trigger law” was passed. It banned abortions except for those performed to save a mother’s or child’s life, or to prevent an injury that would disable them. This law does not make exceptions in cases of rape and incest.

Fleming’s proposal would change this by making abortions legally permissible in cases of incest and rape if performed no later than six week after the day the woman had her last period. The bill would also allow abortions to be performed in cases where a fetus is dead or has a fatal fetal abnormality, which means the fetus won’t survive birth.

Fleming stated in the statement that “we all face difficult decisions in our lives.” As a father to two daughters, I’ve always supported them emotionally, financially, and most importantly, spiritually. I have them in mind and heart when I consider the need for exceptions to our state’s law on abortion. These include life-saving measures, rape and incest cases and other situations.

The bill would not change the current exceptions for saving a mother’s life, or preventing disabling injuries.

This measure includes a provision that allows physicians to document all circumstances surrounding an abortion under state law.

Last-minute legislation filed by a Republican lawmaker last year to ease the state’s ban on abortion was mirrored in this bill. This measure was also introduced on the last day of bill introductions at the House but failed to make any progress as the issue of abortion was ignored in 2023.

Last year, the issue was at the forefront of Kentucky’s fiercely contested Governor’s Race. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who supports abortion rights and won a second term as governor, attacked his Republican opponent for supporting the state’s abortion ban.

The Kentucky Supreme Court last year refused to overturn the ban. The justices ruled only on legal questions, but did not answer the more fundamental constitutional question of whether abortion should be allowed in Kentucky.

A Kentucky woman filed a lawsuit in late 2023 to obtain the right to abortion. Her attorneys withdrew it later after the woman learned that her embryo had no cardiac activity. Kentucky voters rejected in 2022 a ballot initiative that would have denied abortion constitutional protections.

Kentucky is currently one of 14 states that have banned abortions in all stages of pregnancy.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the nationwide right to abortion, bans of some kind have kicked in in most Republican-controlled states. Georgia and South Carolina ban abortions once cardiac activity is detected. This occurs around six weeks of pregnancy, before most women realize they are pregnant. Utah and Wyoming both have laws that ban abortions throughout pregnancy. However, the courts are evaluating whether these laws comply with state constitutions.