Wednesday, March 11, 1998
For immediate release
Contact: Melissa Forsythe or Mark Pfeiffer

Governor Paul Patton said tonight that he would veto House Bill 85 as passed by the House tonight to establish a 24 hour waiting period for abortions. The governor called the measure an intrusion and invasion of the constitutionally protected rights of women, and issued the following statement:

"The constitutional right and responsibility of the elected executive to veto legislation is an important part of our system of checks and balances in government. The federal constitution and many other state constitutions require a two-thirds majority of the members of both chambers to override an executive veto. Our Kentucky state constitution only requires a majority of the members of each chamber to vote to override the governor’s veto for the legislation to become law.

Therefore, if the majority of the member of each chamber votes to pass a bill, there will likely be enough votes to override a veto, unless the bill was not fully understood by the members of the General Assembly at the time. A governor’s veto will generally serve one of two purposes. One would be to allow the General Assembly to fully consider all the issues related to a subject which may not have been fully debated before initial passage. The other reason would be to give the governor an opportunity to express strong opposition to a bill.

As a governor attempting to work with the general assembly, I have repeatedly said I would not veto a bill without consulting with the leaders of the General Assembly.

For this reason, I have not expressed my intentions relative to House Bill 85. My reticence to express my opinion until I see the specific bill and discuss my intentions with leadership has been misinterpreted; therefore, I believe it’s necessary to announce my course of action should the bill passed by the House tonight reach my desk.

Although I realize it is unlikely to stop eventual passage, I will veto the bill for the following reasons:

• It’s an unnecessary invasion of a woman’s privacy.
• Any person has the right to control their own body.
• It is blatantly wrong and a dangerous precedent for the government to mandate that any adult be forced to be subjected to propaganda promoting one view on any subject, especially one so intensely emotional and private, and one about which people feel so strongly.
• It would be an unreasonable and unnecessary hardship on women who live outside the Lexington or Louisville areas.

I have discussed my position with most of the leaders of the General Assembly. I want no one to misunderstand my position on this issue."

END