KY House Bill 90 Update

As previously noted - KONL's Legislative Affairs Committee tracked legislative bills related to birthing centers, midwife regulation, abortion law changes, and sexual assault training. One of these was House Bill 90. 

House Bill 90 allows free standing birthing centers and includes certified professional midwives. It was vetoed by the Governor and passed by the senate on the 27th of March. It includes abortion clarification. It struck several phases in the current abortion law, replacing “no abortion shall be performed” with “no action that requires separating a pregnant woman from her unborn child shall be performed except the following when performed by a physician.” Lifesaving miscarriage management that includes interventions when the pregnancy has ended or is in the unavoidable and untreatable process of ending due to spontaneous or incomplete miscarriage, sepsis and hemorrhage emergency management, and removal of molar or ectopic pregnancy would be acceptable.

As noted previously, HB 219 was signed by the Governor and requires training for all hospital emergency department staff on sexual assault response. It creates a SART-AC Policy Team Charter which would be a resource to the legislature, develop protocols and training curricula, and identify obstacles to KY sexual violence response. It prioritizes access to sexual assault forensic exams.