Prohibition against performing or inducing abortion if fetal heartbeat detected -- Exceptions -- Written declaration -- Persons not in violation
KRS 311.7706
in effect311.7706. Prohibition against performing or inducing abortion if fetal heartbeat detected -- Exceptions -- Written declaration -- Persons not in violation
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, no person shall intentionally perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of the unborn human individual the pregnant woman is carrying and whose fetal heartbeat has been detected in accordance with KRS 311.7704(1).
(2) (a) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to a physician who performs a medical procedure that, in the physician's reasonable medical judgment, is designed or intended to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.
(b) A physician who performs a medical procedure as described in paragraph (a) of this subsection shall, in writing: 1. Declare that the medical procedure is necessary, to the best of the physician's reasonable medical judgment, to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman; and 2. Specify the pregnant woman's medical condition that the medical procedure is asserted to address and the medical rationale for the physician's conclusion that the medical procedure is necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.
(c) The physician shall place the written document required by paragraph (b) of this subsection in the pregnant woman's medical records. The physician shall maintain a copy of the document in the physician's own records for at least seven (7) years from the date the document is created.
(3) A person is not in violation of subsection (1) of this section if the person acts in accordance with KRS 311.7704(1) and the method used to determine the presence of a fetal heartbeat does not reveal a fetal heartbeat.
(4) A pregnant woman on whom an abortion is intentionally performed or induced in violation of subsection (1) of this section is not guilty of violating subsection
(1) of this section or of attempting to commit, conspiring to commit, or complicity in committing a violation of subsection (1) of this section. In addition, the pregnant woman is not subject to a civil penalty based on the abortion being performed or induced in violation of subsection (1) of this section.
(5) Subsection (1) of this section shall not repeal or limit any other provision of the Kentucky Revised Statutes that restricts or regulates the performance or inducement of an abortion by a particular method or during a particular stage of a pregnancy.
Effective:March 15, 2019
History: Created 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 20, sec. 6, effective March 15, 2019.
Source: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (legislature.ky.gov)URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=48503Fetched: 10/20/2026