LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A bill that would outlaw almost all abortions in Kentucky is one step closer to becoming law after a morning filled with emotional testimony from both sides of the abortion debate.
Senate Bill 9 has been nicknamed the "fetal heartbeat bill." It would ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected at around six weeks.
The Senate Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Protection Committee easily passed the bill after a 10-2 vote.
The vote came after passionate testimony from both sides.
The ACLU and Planned Parenthood were among those urging lawmakers not to interfere with what they said is decision that should be between a woman and her doctor.
"Think about these laws that put a boot on my neck and would force me to have a child when I'm not financially ready for one and when I don't have the premium health care to bring one into this world safely," said Nicolle Stipp, who has had an abortion. "Your laws -- these laws, this bill -- are just making our state worse, stamping your boots on the necks of working women."
On the other side, the former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic, a physician and an attorney all testified in support of the bill.
But perhaps the most compelling testimony came from two women: Claire Culwell, a Texas woman who survived an abortion attempt by her mother, and a Louisville entrepreneur who had an abortion.
"My rights were just as important as my birth mother's," Culwell said. "My heart beat just as loud as hers. I deserved a chance at life just like any other unborn baby with a beating heart in the womb."
The bill passed easily and could get a vote as early as Thursday on the Senate floor.
The ACLU says, if the bill becomes law, it will file a lawsuit.
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