Lawmakers and supporters are championing a bill that would address the distribution of life-ending medication, including abortion pills, in Kentucky.
House Bill 646 will put a “stake in the ground” regarding death-inducing drugs in Kentucky, according to bill sponsor Representative Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg.
“This bill is not about ideology, it’s about protection and enforceability,” Tate said. “It is designed to protect the citizens of Kentucky from trafficking, importation, distribution and the misuse of pharmaceuticals intended to intentionally terminate human life.”
Kentucky law is clear: abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal. But Tate said there’s more work to be done, even after the state’s abortion ban was triggered and later enforced after the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“The way death-inducing pharmaceuticals are now marketed, distributed and trafficked has changed dramatically, and Kentucky’s enforcement mechanisms have not kept pace.”
HB 646 would:
- Make it a felony to import, distribute or traffic life-ending drugs in Kentucky in violation of state law;
- Upgrade penalties for violators and strengthen enforcement of Kentucky’s life-affirming laws;
- Target entities that ship death-inducing across state lines or facilitate access to those drugs in the commonwealth;
- Classify abortion-inducing drugs as controlled substances;
- And provide civil remedies for Kentuckians who are harmed.
Tate said her bill will not impact miscarriage care in Kentucky, pointing to the passage of HB 90 last session. That legislation defines abortion and miscarriage differently.
She also acknowledged the lawful use of mifepristone, the first pill used to terminate a pregnancy, in miscarriage management.
“When these pills are used illegally in combination to kill—deliberately kill—a viable child, a child in the womb, then that’s when they become unlawful,” Tate said.
Rep. T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, said HB 646 ensures Kentucky’s laws “have meaningful effect.”
“We saw late last year that our legislation is currently insufficient to adequately protect our communities against these death-inducing drugs,” Roberts said, noting Melinda Spencer, a Wolfe County woman who was charged in January with fetal homicide after taking abortion pills. A Commonwealth’s Attorney dismissed that charge, but Spencer faces other felony charges, including abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence, and a misdemeanor charge of concealing the birth of an infant.
Under the bill, pregnant women could not be charged or penalized for possessing abortion-inducing drugs for personal use.
“To be clear, where there is smoke, there is fire,” Roberts added. “We know it’s happening in Kentucky. We know there are out-of-state entities that are trafficking these pills into our commonwealth, notwithstanding our laws. House Bill 646 simply puts more tools in the toolbox to make sure that all life in Kentucky, born and reborn, has an adequate means of protection.”
David Walls, executive director of The Family Foundation, said HB 646 includes “commonsense protections.”
“Failure to act this legislative session, we’ll continue to see thousands preborn Kentuckians lose their lives. Failure to act this legislative session will be, will mean more mothers, more families are harmed in the commonwealth of Kentucky. So, we firmly believe that sitting on the sidelines is not an option. We have a moral obligation, a duty this legislative session to address this issue,” Walls said.
“Kentucky is a pro-life state,” noted Commonwealth Policy Center Executive Director Richard Nelson, “and I applaud these legislators for standing on behalf of life and protecting our unborn.”
In addition to Tate and Roberts, 12 legislators have signed on as co-sponsors of House Bill 646, which was referred to the Judiciary Committee on Jan. 23.
(Photo: Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, speaks at a press conference championing House Bill 646 on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, courtesy of Facebook via Kentucky Today)
By Tessa Redmond, Kentucky Today
