Sen. Ralph Alvarado
SB112 was designed to expand health care across Kentucky by using the Internet for doctor-patient interaction. The bill required the Cabinet to regulate telehealth in the Commonwealth. However, an amendment to the bill specifically prohibited medical abortions via the telehealth connection, making this a significant “pro-life” bill – doctors may not dispense an abortion pill with only a “computer visit.”
SB 112 was particularly timely because of the recent merger/takeover of Planned Parenthood of Kentucky by Planned Parenthood of Indiana. The business model of the larger and stronger Indiana group is to make medical abortions more prevalent. Using telehealth, a physician would only need to “see” a patient via the Internet and then release an abortifacient to that patient with the touch of a button. The patient could not be examined for a possible ectopic pregnancy and would have no easy access to her physician if things went awry as they sometimes do with that process.
