Five months after Roe v. Wade fell in 2022—triggering a near-total abortion ban in Kentucky—the state’s voters said Kentucky’s constitution should not explicitly deny the right to an abortion.
Despite that, Kentucky still has some of the toughest abortion laws in the country—with no exceptions for rape or incest, and vague language meant to protect the life of the mother that have caused concern from advocates and medical professionals.
Abortion isn’t the hot-button political talking point it once was, but the winner of the increasingly competitive battle for Kentucky’s open 6th Congressional seat will face a Trump administration that has toyed with the idea of national abortion restrictions.
The two leading candidates in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District race—Democrat Zach Dembo and Republican Ralph Alvarado—have starkly different takes on reproductive rights: One vows to codify abortion rights nationwide; the other played a persistent role in restricting abortion access in Kentucky in the first place.
What to know about abortion in Kentucky
It is nearly impossible to get an abortion in Kentucky, and it has been that way since Roe v. Wade was struck down in June 2022.
Kentucky had something called a trigger ban in place: State lawmakers had already passed a law that said if the decades-old court ruling guaranteeing a right to an abortion ever fell, Kentucky would immediately end abortion access.
It fell, and now Kentucky has a near-total abortion ban. While there are very limited exceptions to save the life of the pregnant person, rape and incest survivors are not allowed abortions.
Soon after Roe v. Wade fell, Kentucky voters were faced with 2022’s Amendment 2: A confusingly worded, yet brief constitutional amendment that sought to add a line to the state constitution saying nothing in the document should be interpreted as guaranteeing a right to an abortion.
Kentucky voters voted against it, blocking the line from being added to the state constitution on a 52.4% to 47.7% vote. Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District voted overwhelmingly against it, including a 73.2% to 26.8% vote in Lexington.
What does Ralph Alvarado think about abortion?
Alvarado, a doctor and former Kentucky state senator and Tennessee health commissioner, has been a staunch anti-abortion advocate for years.
According to a count by Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates-Kentucky, Alvarado voted 21 times to ban or restrict abortion access and sponsored a half-dozen pieces of legislation on the topic while in the Kentucky state Senate, including supporting the trigger ban that immediately blocked abortions after Roe.
When a draft opinion of the Supreme Court’s eventual ruling around Roe got leaked in 2022, Alvarado tweeted it would “be an answer to countless prayers.”
A month into the COVID-19 pandemic, Alvarado also said that “the most dangerous place right now to be during the COVID-19 crisis in Kentucky is inside your mother’s womb.”
Tamarra Wieder, Kentucky State Director for PPAA, said Alvarado has a “long history” of being a “threat” to reproductive rights and healthcare access in general. PPAA doesn’t endorse candidates for federal races, but has been mounting a local opposition effort urging voters to reject Alvarado since mid-August.
What does Zach Dembo think about abortion?
Dembo, a former federal prosecutor making his first run for office, says he wants to codify Roe v. Wade nationally if elected.
“As the son of two physicians, I understand how personal and sacred the relationship between a doctor and her patient is,” Dembo said. “The government has no place in that exam room when a woman is making one of the most difficult decisions of her life.”
Women who want “to have an abortion in her first trimester should have that right,” Dembo’s campaign policy page states. (A campaign spokesperson did not directly answer the question when asked if Dembo believes abortion access should be limited to just the first trimester.)
Dembo also says he would work to protect IVF access, along with backing “pro-family” policies including universal preschool and affordable childcare.
What to know about Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District
Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District covers Lexington and surrounding parts of central Kentucky. Current Rep. Andy Barr, a Republican, is running for US Senate, leaving the seat open for the first time in more than a decade.
It has been seen as a relatively safe seat for Republicans—despite the area having nearly the same amount of Democrats and Republicans—until recently, as nonpartisan race predictors have slowly shifted their ratings away from the Republicans.
A wave of recent polling in the race—all backed by Democrat-leaning entities—signals Dembo is leading Alvarado by single-digits.
Multiple polls signaled Alvarado might be struggling to attract and keep would-be Republican voters, with an internal Dembo campaign poll suggesting those voters are instead voting for one of the two third-party candidates in the race (independent Jay Bowman and Kentucky Party’s Pete Lynch) and a poll from a pro-Dembo PAC signalling some are backing Dembo.
What to know about Kentucky’s 2026 elections
Election Day is Nov. 3, with polls being open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time.
All Kentucky voters also have the opportunity to vote early in-person—no excuse needed—Oct. 29 through Oct. 31. Voters who meet certain criteria can also vote using an absentee mail-in ballot or during excused, in-person early voting on Oct. 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, and 28.
READ MORE: Check out Hellbender’s 2026 Voter Hub
