Abortion rights wins in Kentucky, elsewhere stoke supporters

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Lexie Overstreet logged plenty of miles on foot, knocking on doors to try to persuade Kentuckians not to take away one of the last legal paths to restoring abortion rights in the state.

Now she's hoping her side's win at the ballot box Tuesday will convince the state's highest court to throw out a sweeping abortion ban passed by the Republican-led legislature.

“It was great to wake up this morning and know that Kentuckians are on the same side as me,” the 21-year-old University of Louisville student and volunteer said after the election. “And know that the thousands of doors that I knocked aren’t going to be forgotten and that all those people I talked to, they cast their vote and their vote was heard.”

Whether those voices will resonate with the Kentucky Supreme Court, which is set to hear arguments for and against the ban Tuesday, hinges on legal arguments about whether state constitutional protections extend to a right to an abortion. With a hearing set for Tuesday, the case looms as the first legal test for abortion rights after midterm elections in which voters across the country came down firmly on the side of keeping abortion legal. No timeline has been given for a ruling.

In Kentucky, abortion rights supporters think the amendment's rejection should be a consideration as the justices hear the case.

“My hope is that the Supreme Court will listen to the will of the people and know that the people have rejected extremism and rule accordingly,” Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said in the days leading up to the pivotal court hearing.

Beshear, who is running for reelection next year, can take comfort in knowing that his position on abortion rights puts him squarely on the side of a majority of Kentuckians. But one of the GOP candidates hoping...