The bill represents a pivot from GOP legislators who have defended the abortion ban in the face of lawsuits and medical scrutiny.

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have added several medical exceptions to the state’s near-total abortion ban.

Republicans pass bill to relax and clarify medical exceptions in Kentucky’s near-total ban, in the first major move to modify the strict ban since it became law in 2022.

Kentucky’s abortion ban allows an exception when the life of the mother is at risk, but where does the law draw that line? State lawmakers debated that question at length Thursday before delivering a “clarification” bill to the governor’s desk.