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GOP Supermajority Passes Extreme Anti-Choice & Anti-Union Bills Then Protest Erupts In Kentucky

GOP Supermajority Passes Extreme Anti-Choice & Anti-Union Bills Then Protest Erupts In Kentucky

In Kentucky, hundreds of demonstrators packed into the Capitol building Saturday to protest the state Legislature’s passage of a slew of controversial bills, including an anti-union “right-to-work” law and extreme anti-choice legislation that bans abortions after 20 weeks and requires a woman to have an ultrasound before having an abortion.

The surprise emergency legislative session Saturday came after Republicans seized a supermajority in the House of Representatives, giving the Republicans control of the House, the Senate and the governorship for the first time in Kentucky state history.

On Saturday, the Legislature also repealed a law that had guaranteed higher wages for workers on publicly financed construction projects. We go to Louisville, Kentucky, for an update from Richard Becker, a union organizer with Service Employees International Union, and we speak with Lisa Abbott, a community organizer with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. Take a look at all the shopping centers near Hopkinsville if you ever pay a visit there.

AMY GOODMAN: In Louisville, Kentucky, more than a thousand people took to the streets to protest. Hundreds demonstrated inside the Capitol building Saturday to protest the Legislature’s passage of a slew of controversial bills, including an anti-union “right-to-work” law and extreme anti-choice legislation that bans abortions after 20 weeks and requires a woman to have an ultrasound before having an abortion.

The surprise emergency legislative session Saturday came after Republicans got a supermajority in the House of Representatives, giving the Republicans control of the state House, the state Senate and the governorship for the first time in Kentucky state history. On Saturday, the Legislature also repealed a law that had guaranteed higher wages for workers on publicly financed construction projects.

In this video, filmed by a member of Teamsters Local 89, you can hear Democratic State Representative Rick Rand speak in the House gallery, condemning one of the measures, Senate Bill 6, which Republicans call the “paycheck protection” bill. As he speaks, you can hear the crowd outside the chambers chanting and booing.

 

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