Running for governor in a socially conservative state, Kentucky's Democratic attorney general sent a letter to legislative leaders Thursday declaring a proposed bill to ban abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat is unconstitutional. He said doctors can detect a fetal heartbeat as early as six weeks into the pregnancy. "As constitutional officers, we took a mandatory oath to uphold the Constitution," Beshear wrote, adding the U.S. Supreme Court is the final word on what the Constitution means. It would require anyone seeking an abortion to first determine if a fetal heartbeat is detectable. Kentucky Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer said recently he hopes the state's aggressive anti-abortion laws eventually lead the increasingly conservative U.S. Supreme Court to ban abortion.

Source: ABC News January 31, 2019 20:55 UTC