Republicans, now wielding total control of the Kentucky state legislature for the first time in nearly a century, exerted their power this weekend to pass a slew of measures that weaken workers’ and women’s rights.
The passage of the seven bills by the General Assembly during a special session on Saturday, as the Daily Independent reports, is unusual, as, normally, “the legislature passes little or no legislation during the first four days of the biannual 30-day ‘short session’ using the initial week for organization.”
The bills attacking women’s reproductive rights are SB5, which bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest, or for fetal anomalies; and HB2, which requires doctors to show women seeking an abortion an ultrasound image of their fetus before the procedure takes place.
Affecting workers, the lawmakers passed HB1, a so-called right-to-work bill. As Reuters explains, it gives “workers the right to work in union-represented shops and receive union-negotiated benefits without paying dues to the representing body.” The General Assembly also passed passed HB3, which gets rid of the law that meant workers on public construction projects were required to earn the prevailing wage, as well as SB6, which requires workers to make a written request before union dues can be deducted.
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