---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to abortion and declaring an emergency. Create new sections of KRS Chapter 311 to prohibit an abortion when the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or greater; create an affirmative defense if the probable post-fertilization age was less than 20 weeks or if a medical emergency; require a determination of the unborn child's probable post-fertilization age prior to performing an abortion; allow for civil relief; create the Kentucky pain-capable unborn child protection litigation fund; allow for severability; amend KRS 311.595 to allow the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure to suspend or revoke the license of any physician for violations; amend KRS 311.990 to establish a criminal penalty for violations; amend KRS 213.101 to expand the statistical reporting system for abortions; amend KRS 413.140 to provide a one-year statute of limitation for civil actions arising from violations; EMERGENCY."
description: "AN ACT relating to abortion and declaring an emergency. Create new sections of KRS Chapter 311 to prohibit an abortion when the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or greater; create an affirmative defense if the probable post-fertilization age was less than 20 weeks or if a medical emergency; require a determination of the unborn child's probable post-fertilization age prior to performing an abortion; allow for civil relief; create the Kentucky pain-capable unborn child protection litigation fund; allow for severability; amend KRS 311.595 to allow the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure to suspend or revoke the license of any physician for violations; amend KRS 311.990 to establish a criminal penalty for violations; amend KRS 213.101 to expand the statistical reporting system for abortions; amend KRS 413.140 to provide a one-year statute of limitation for civil actions arising from violations; EMERGENCY."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2017RS"
identifier: "SB 5"
citation: "Kentucky SB 5 (2017RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 5
action_count: 30
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2017-01-03"
last_action: "2017-01-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/711379ab-4c83-43f1-b032-1ed29f0f9542"
source_url: "http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/17RS/SB5.htm"
source_hash: "0083e98e1c2ebc8d33cf660e4e769e7b97a282a9b8c9ff3eb0d75c2a009ef31e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ky"]
---

# Kentucky SB 5 (2017RS) — AN ACT relating to abortion and declaring an emergency. Create new sections of KRS Chapter 311 to prohibit an abortion when the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or greater; create an affirmative defense if the probable post-fertilization age was less than 20 weeks or if a medical emergency; require a determination of the unborn child's probable post-fertilization age prior to performing an abortion; allow for civil relief; create the Kentucky pain-capable unborn child protection litigation fund; allow for severability; amend KRS 311.595 to allow the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure to suspend or revoke the license of any physician for violations; amend KRS 311.990 to establish a criminal penalty for violations; amend KRS 213.101 to expand the statistical reporting system for abortions; amend KRS 413.140 to provide a one-year statute of limitation for civil actions arising from violations; EMERGENCY.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HFA1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB5/HFA1.pdf)
2. **HFA2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB5/HFA2.pdf)
3. **HFA3** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB5/HFA3.pdf)
4. **Most Recent Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB5/bill.pdf)
5. **SB 5 (As Introduced)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB5/orig_bill.pdf)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-03** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2017-01-03** Taken from Committee on Committees (S)
- **2017-01-03** 1st reading `reading-1`
- **2017-01-03** Returned to Committee on Committees (S)
- **2017-01-03** To Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (S) `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-04** Taken from Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (S)
- **2017-01-04** 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2017-01-04** Returned to Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection (S)
- **2017-01-05** Reported favorably, to Rules
- **2017-01-05** Posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, January 5, 2017
- **2017-01-05** 3rd reading, passed 30-6 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-01-05** Received in House
- **2017-01-05** To Health and Family Services (H) `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-05** Taken from Health and Family Services (H)
- **2017-01-05** 1st reading `reading-1`
- **2017-01-05** Returned to Health and Family Services (H)
- **2017-01-05** Posting waived
- **2017-01-06** Taken from Health and Family Services (H)
- **2017-01-06** 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2017-01-06** Returned to Health and Family Services (H)
- **2017-01-07** Reported favorably, to Rules
- **2017-01-07** Posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Saturday, January 7, 2017
- **2017-01-07** Floor amendments (1) (2) and (3-title) filed
- **2017-01-07** 3rd reading, passed 79-15 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-01-07** Received in Senate
- **2017-01-07** Enrolled, signed by President of the Senate
- **2017-01-07** Received in House
- **2017-01-07** Enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House
- **2017-01-07** Delivered to Governor
- **2017-01-09** Signed by Governor (Acts, ch. 005) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/711379ab-4c83-43f1-b032-1ed29f0f9542`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).