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A bill that would require doctors and other health workers to provide life-saving care for an infant born alive after a failed abortion attempt was approved by a Kentucky Senate panel Thursday. The measure sailed through the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee without any opposition. No one spoke against the bill during the meeting. Afterward, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky laid out its opposition by releasing a letter it sent to the committee members. The group said the bill perpetuates “myths and lies about abortion care." (Schreiner, 1/23)

Sponsor Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Hopkinsville, who sponsored a similar bill last year that did not pass, said Thursday he is not aware of any such situation in Kentucky. But he wants to make sure the law is clear, he said. "We want to make sure the law is there to prevent it from ever happening," he said. No one spoke in opposition to the bill that passed 9-0, and committee Chairman Al Robinson, a London Republican, praised Westerfield for sponsoring a measure "to protect the most innocent in our society." (Yetter, 1/23)

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says he wants to enact some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation, which would include banning women from undergoing the procedure once a fetal heartbeat is detected. The Republican governor made the announcement Thursday surrounded by dozens of mostly male GOP state lawmakers — many of whom are up for reelection later this year. (1/23)

With a newly empowered Democratic majority at the Virginia General Assembly, abortion-rights advocates say the state has a chance to roll back decades of restrictions and become a “safe haven” for women in neighboring conservative states. Pro-choice groups laid out their legislative priorities this week, emphasizing a measure to undo Republican-backed laws including a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, as well a requirement that women seeking an abortion undergo an ultrasound and counseling. (1/23)

Meanwhile, ahead of the annual March for Life —

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos compared the abortion rights debate to the battle to eliminate slavery during remarks at a Colorado Christian University event in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night. DeVos, a Christian conservative, discussed the Trump administration's record of opposition to abortion, and said she was reminded of President Abraham Lincoln. "He, too, contended with the 'pro-choice' arguments of his day," she said, according to prepared remarks shared Thursday by the department with POLITICO. "They suggested that a state’s 'choice' to be slave or to be free had no moral question in it." (Gaudiano, 1/23)

The Rev. Bjorn Lundberg will escort busloads of his parishioners to Washington on Friday for this year’s March for Life. They won’t be stopping at Starbucks on the way. The coffee giant is not aligned with their cause, Lundberg says. As a Catholic priest who leads a 9,500-member parish in Winchester, Va., he stopped patronizing Starbucks when he learned the chain matches its employees’ charitable donations, including to Planned Parenthood and other nonprofit groups that support abortion access. (Zauzmer, 1/23)

Its organizers call it an “emergency exhibition,” prompted by a series of challenges to abortion rights. The premise of the show, titled “Abortion Is Normal,” is that a procedure that’s been subject to so much controversy should instead be accepted as an ordinary part of health care. (Steinhauer, 1/23)