(ChurchLeaders) Kentucky’s Senate Bill 9, which mandates medical care for babies who live through botched abortions, became law this week after Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear failed to veto it. For any baby born during an abortion procedure, the born alive bill requires treatment “as a legal person…with the same rights to medically appropriate and reasonable care and treatment.” A birth certificate must be issued, and parents aren’t held liable for the actions of medical professionals.
The legislation’s sponsor, Republican State Sen. Whitney Westerfield, was grateful for no gubernatorial veto but disappointed that Beshear didn’t sign the bill. “I’ll take what I can get,” he says, adding that the new law cements Kentucky’s role as a “leading pro-life state.” Westerfield says, “It means that we’re going to protect children that are born alive, under any circumstance, not just from a failed abortion attempt.”