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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky proposes constitutional amendment establishing an individual right to reproductive freedom
Last action · January 30, 2026: to Elections, Const. Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs (H)Sponsor: Daniel Grossberg
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What This Bill Proposed
Kentucky HB 476 proposes a constitutional amendment to establish a fundamental individual right to reproductive freedom, including prenatal care, contraception, sterilization, abortion, and miscarriage management, to be placed before voters for . The measure prohibits state interference, penalization, or prosecution related to pregnancy outcomes or assisting someone in exercising reproductive rights, while permitting regulation of abortion after .
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
pregnant persons
Establishment of a fundamental right to make decisions regarding pregnancy, contraception, and abortion without state interference or penalization for outcomes.
health care professionals
Professional judgment is used to determine fetal viability and whether abortion care is medically indicated to protect a patient's life or health.
voters of the Commonwealth
Must vote to ratify or reject the constitutional amendment on the ballot at the next regular election.
Secretary of State
Required to publish the constitutional question in a newspaper and certify it to county clerks by specified deadlines.
county clerks
Required to have the full question and amendment indicated on ballots for voters.
Key Facts
- Establishes a fundamental right for every person to make and effectuate decisions about reproductive freedom, including prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care.
- Prohibits the Commonwealth from denying, burdening, or infringing upon reproductive freedom unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.
- Allows the Commonwealth to regulate abortion care after fetal viability, provided that it can never prohibit an abortion that an attending health care professional judges to be medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.
- Prohibits the Commonwealth from penalizing, prosecuting, or taking adverse action against a person based on actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion.
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- Prohibits the Commonwealth from penalizing or prosecuting anyone for aiding or assisting a pregnant person in exercising reproductive freedom with voluntary consent.
- Defines a 'compelling' state interest solely as protecting the health of a person seeking care, consistent with accepted clinical standards and evidence-based medicine, without infringing on autonomous decision-making.
- Defines 'fetal viability' as the point in pregnancy when an attending health care professional judges there is a significant likelihood of sustained fetal survival outside the uterus without extraordinary medical measures.
- Requires the Secretary of State to publish the entirety of the constitutional question and amendment in a newspaper of general circulation no later than the first Tuesday in August preceding the election.
- Requires the Secretary of State to certify the question and amendment to each county clerk by specific statutory deadlines depending on whether the year includes a presidential election.
- Requires county clerks to include the entire question and amendment on paper or electronic ballots for voters to ratify or reject at the next regular election.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this bill do?
Can the state still regulate abortion if this amendment passes?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Jan 30, 2026HouseCommitteeto Elections, Const. Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs (H)
- Jan 22, 2026HouseIntroducedintroduced in House to Committee on Committees (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 90)
- Controversy90Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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