Russell Coleman

Russell Coleman, the Republican candidate for attorney general, in an interview this week said he supports adding exceptions to Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban in cases of rape and incest.

Coleman, who is a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, has been endorsed by advocacy groups who support Kentucky’s current abortion law, which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Coleman’s comments come after Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s campaign has put Republicans on the defensive on the abortion issue.

“While I will enforce the law as passed by the General Assembly, that’s the job, I am pro-life, but I support the exceptions for rape and for incest, to not re-traumatize these women, and I would ask — call on the General Assembly to take a hard look at that issue,” Coleman said in a Spectrum News 1 interview published Wednesday.?

Advocates for abortion rights in Kentucky were skeptical that Coleman’s proposed exceptions would be helpful, pointing out that the Kentucky law has closed all the state’s abortion clinics, which means victims, including young victims of incest, would have to seek abortions in other states. Exceptions to abortion bans in cases of rape and incest are reportedly rarely granted.

Tamarra Wieder, Kentucky state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said, “Russell Coleman, just like (GOP candidate for governor) Daniel Cameron, is talking out of both sides of his mouth.”

In a statement to the Kentucky Lantern, Coleman said he “had never stated nor been specifically asked whether the General Assembly should amend our pro-life laws” before the interview with Spectrum. If elected this fall, Coleman vowed to be an attorney general who is “both pro-life and pro-victim” — which “are not in opposition to each other,” he said before adding: “Part of being pro-life is being compassionate to crime victims.”

“After listening to prosecutors, crime victims and my family, I made a statement that I believe the law should be amended to include exceptions for rape and incest in addition to the existing exception for life and health of the mother,” Coleman said. “What does it mean to me to be 100% pro-life? I said it for the record for all to hear: limit abortions and protect victims of rape and incest. That’s my definition. It’s a mainstream position consistent with my faith that I believe most Kentuckians share, including so many who consider themselves pro-life.”

Coleman’s public comments on his support for exceptions in cases of rape and incest echo recent remarks from Republican gubernatorial candidate Cameron — the current attorney general, who is defending the Kentucky ban in court, and is a personal friend of Coleman’s.?

Last month, Cameron for the first time publicly said as governor, he would sign legislation adding exceptions to Kentucky’s abortion law in cases of rape and incest if the General Assembly would pass it, but he continues to support the law as it is. The Beshear campaign has released two ads criticizing Cameron for supporting the law.?

Republican House Whip Jason Nemes proposed a bill in the last legislative session that would allow exceptions in case of rape and incest but the bill did not advance at all.?

Both Coleman and Cameron have been endorsed by advocacy group Kentucky Right to Life in their respective elections. KRTL’s website said both candidates provided “100% ProLife Responses” to its candidate questionnaire.?

Northern Kentucky Right to Life said Coleman responded to its May 2023 candidate questionnaire but did not answer it. The group did endorse Cameron and published his responses.?

Both KRTL and NKYRTL did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday morning.?

Angela Cooper, a spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said in a statement that perpetrators of rape and incest “are already rarely reported, rarely caught, and rarely convicted. And that’s WITHOUT an unwanted pregnancy to compound the victim’s trauma.” She added that the government “does not have the right or the expertise to intervene” and such medical decisions should be between patients and their providers.?

“There certainly seems to be a recent trend where those who have historically presented themselves as 100% anti-choice suddenly agree that comprehensive reproductive care must include access to abortion, if only in certain cases,” Cooper said. “But these changes in sentiment present more questions than answers.”?

Cooper said reproductive care is “a complex area of medicine,” and pregnancy in itself “a particularly complicated and time-sensitive medical state.”?

“Abortion bans, even those with exceptions, are blatantly harmful to pregnant people. Let’s say an exceptions bill is signed into law in Kentucky,” she continued. “Where does the burden of proof lie when it comes to determining the cause of an unwanted pregnancy? Does a rape victim have to get a conviction before being allowed to terminate their pregnancy? Does a 12-year-old victim of incest stand a chance when it is a family member who is raping them in the first place? Does a physician have to get the attorney general’s approval before performing an abortion? Who is going to perform these abortions, with no clinics left in the state?”?

Coleman’s opponent, Democratic state Rep. Pam Stevenson, has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. In a statement, Stevenson said she was “committed to protecting the reproductive rights and healthcare choices of Kentuckians.”?

“We will refuse to prosecute patients or doctors under state law (if elected). It is essential that individuals have the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions without fear of legal repercussions,” she said. “I will use the office’s bully pulpit to vigorously defend the rights of patients and doctors, advocating for access to safe and legal healthcare options without interference from politicians.”

Wieder, Kentucky state director for PPAA, expressed the group’s support for Stevenson in a statement to the Lantern.?

“Russell Coleman, just like Daniel Cameron, is talking out of both sides of his mouth. Here are the facts: Coleman answered ‘yes’ to every question the Kentucky Right to Life Victory PAC put out in order to receive their endorsement, and he backed the 2022 Constitutional Amendment that Kentucky voters defeated – neither include exceptions for rape and incest survivors,” Wieder said. “Coleman has the rubber stamp approval of several extreme anti-abortion organizations, because he, too, is extreme and out of touch with Kentuckians. With Coleman and Cameron leading our Commonwealth, sex offenders will have more freedom than their survivors. It’s atrocious.”