FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The decision by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to veto a Republican-led measure that would ban abortions in Kentucky after 15 weeks of pregnancy and regulate the dispensing of abortion pills marked one of the latest moves in a nationwide fight over access to the procedures.
State lawmakers will have a chance to override Beshear's Friday veto when they reconvene for the final two days of this year's legislative session. The abortion measure won overwhelming support in the GOP-dominated Legislature.
The proposal reflects the latest attempt by Kentucky lawmakers to put more restrictions and conditions on abortion since the GOP took complete control of the Legislature after the 2016 election.
Republican-led legislatures across the country have pushed to adopt new restrictions as the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority has signaled willingness in a Mississippi case to erode or even strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal nationwide until a baby can survive outside the womb.
If Roe is overturned, then 26 states are certain or likely to quickly ban abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a think tank that supports abortion rights.
Kentucky's proposed 15-week ban is modeled after the Mississippi law under review by the Supreme Court. By taking preemptive action, the bill's supporters say, Kentucky could have its ban in place if the Mississippi law is upheld.
Kentucky law currently bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Beshear on Friday condemned the bill for failing to exclude pregnancies caused by rape or incest.
"Rape and incest are violent crimes," the governor said in his veto message. "Victims of these crimes should have options, not be further scarred through a process that exposes them to more harm from their rapists or that treats them like offenders themselves."
The governor said the bill would make it harder for girls under 18 to end pregnancies without notifying both parents. As an example, he said that a girl impregnated by her father would have to notify him of her intent to get an abortion.
Beshear, a former state attorney general, also said the bill is "likely unconstitutional," noting that similar laws elsewhere were struck down by the Supreme Court. He pointed to provisions in the Kentucky bill requiring doctors performing nonsurgical procedures to maintain hospital admitting privileges in "geographical proximity" to where the procedures are performed.
Opponents of the Kentucky bill say its restrictions are so onerous that no abortion clinic could comply.
The state Republican Party criticized Beshear for the veto.
On Friday, state GOP spokesperson Sean Southard said the governor's decision marked "the latest action in his ideological war on the conservative values held by Kentuckians."
Abortion-rights supporters defended the governor's action. Jackie McGranahan, policy strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the bill aims to "shame and ostracize patients" and "push a safe and effective method of abortion care out of reach."
Another key part of the bill would set regulations for the dispensing of abortion pills. It would require women to be examined in person by a doctor before receiving the medication.
That provision of the bill is part of a nationwide push by anti-abortion groups to limit the ability of physicians to prescribe abortion pills by telemedicine, and it comes in response to the increased use of pills rather than surgery to terminate pregnancies.
About half of all abortions performed in Kentucky are the result of medication procedures.
MARYLAND BILL
Meanwhile, in Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan on Friday vetoed a measure that would expand access to abortion in the state by ending a restriction that only physicians can provide them and requiring most insurance plans to cover abortion care without cost.
The Republican governor wrote that the bill "endangers the health and lives of women by allowing non-physicians to perform abortions."
"The bill risks lowering the high standard of reproductive health care services received by women in Maryland," wrote Hogan, who has previously said he personally opposes abortion but considers it settled law in the state. "These procedures are complex and can, and often do, result in significant medical complications that require the attention of a licensed physician."
Democrats, who control the General Assembly, passed the legislation with enough votes to override the veto before the scheduled adjournment of the legislative session Monday night.
Supporters of the bill say Maryland does not have enough abortion providers for the needs of the state. They have pointed out that many counties do not have a single provider.
The bill would remove a legal restriction preventing nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistants from providing abortions. It would also create an abortion care training program and would require $3.5 million in state funding annually.
IDAHO LAW ON HOLD
The Idaho Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a new state law that would ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and would allow for enforcement through lawsuits.
Idaho last month became the first state to enact legislation modeled after the Texas statute banning abortions after about six weeks. The ruling from Idaho's high court in a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood means the new law won't go into effect as planned on April 22.
The state Supreme Court instructed both sides to file further briefs as it considers the case before its ultimate decision.
Republican Gov. Brad Little last month signed into law the measure that allows people who would have been family members to sue doctors who perform abortions after cardiac activity is detected in embryos. But when he signed it, Little said he had concerns about whether the law was constitutional.
The law would allow the father, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles of a "preborn child" to each sue an abortion provider for a minimum of $20,000 in damages within four years after the abortion. A rapist can't file a lawsuit under the law, but a rapist's relatives could.
Planned Parenthood of Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky had called the law unconstitutional.
"We are thrilled that abortion will remain accessible in the state for now, but our fight to ensure that Idahoans can fully access their constitutionally protected rights is far from over," Rebecca Gibron, interim CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky, said after Friday's court action.
The Idaho measure was modeled after the Texas law that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to remain in place until a court challenge is decided on its merits.
The Texas law allows people to enforce it in place of state officials who normally would do so. The measure authorizes lawsuits against clinics, doctors and anyone who "aids or abets" an abortion that is not permitted by law.
Backers of the Idaho law say it's the state's best opportunity to restrict abortions after years of trying to do so.
When he signed the bill, Idaho's governor noted his concerns with the legislation.
"Deputizing private citizens to levy hefty monetary fines on the exercise of a disfavored but judicially recognized constitutional right for the purpose of evading court review undermines our constitutional form of government and weakens our collective liberties," Little wrote.
He said he worried that some states might use the same approach to limit gun rights.
Information for this article was contributed by Bruce Schreiner, Brian White and staff members of The Associated Press.