A Dickenson County teen who was 16 at the time is claiming staff at Bristol Women’s Health forced her to have an abortion.

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CAMPTON, Ky. — A Wolfe County woman who gave herself an abortion at home is now looking at no more than five years in prison, after prosecutors asked to dismiss a charge of fetal homicide that could have resulted in a life sentence.

Melinda Spencer, 35, of Campton, was arrested after she told United Clinic that she’d had an abortion at home and buried the remains in her back yard. The clinic then reported her to Kentucky State Police.

Police initially charged her with fetal homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. A grand jury returned an those same charges on Tuesday, plus an additional charge of concealing the birth of an infant.

But on Wednesday, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the fetal homicide charge. They pointed out that they have no grounds to pursue the charge because Kentucky’s fetal homicide law specifically exempts “any acts of a pregnant woman that caused the death of her unborn child.”

The judge agreed to dismiss the charge during Spencer’s arraignment on Wednesday.

Of the charges that remain, the evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse charges are punishable by up to five years in prison, while the concealment charge is a misdemeanor.

Spencer continues to be held in the Three Forks Regional Jail in Beattyville.

A copy of the prosecution’s motion to dismiss follows:

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CAMPTON, Ky. — A Powell County woman faces spending the rest of her life in prison, after she disclosed to her health care provider that she had aborted her pregnancy.

Kentucky State Police Post 8 in Morehead was informed by United Clinic in Campton about the incident. Troopers and detectives went to the clinic and interviewed the patient, Melinda S. Spencer, 35, of Campton.

Spencer told police she had ordered medication to complete an abortion and had taken it, resulting in her aborting a “developed male infant,” police said. KSP says she further told them she buried the remains on her property.

Police went to the woman’s home and located the remains in a shallow grave, just as she had described.

Spencer was arrested and charged with first-degree fetal homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. The fetal homicide charge is a capital offense, punishable by 20-to-50 years or life in prison.

She is being held without bond in the Three Forks Regional Jail in Beattyville.

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In light of recent events, the Pikeville Fire Department wants to remind the public about their Safe Haven Baby Box.

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PIKEVILLE, Ky. — Pikeville Pride held a rally against the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade on Sunday, with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Charles Booker attending as one of the event’s featured speakers.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — As expected, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision guaranteeing the right to abortion.

By a 6-3 vote, the court found that the Constitution does not contain a right to abortion and compared Roe to Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 decision that allowed segregation under the concept of “separate but equal.”

“[T]he Court considers whether a right to obtain an abortion is part of a broader entrenched right that is supported by other precedents,” the opinion reads. “The Court concludes the right to obtain an abortion cannot be justified as a component of such a right. Attempts to justify abortion through appeals to a broader right to autonomy and to define one’s ‘concept of existence’ prove too much. Those criteria, at a high level of generality, could license fundamental rights to illicit drug use, prostitution, and the like. What sharply distinguishes the abortion right from the rights recognized in the cases on which Roe and Casey rely is something that both those decisions acknowledged: Abortion is different because it destroys what Roe termed ‘potential life’ and what the law challenged in this case calls an ‘unborn human being.’ None of the other decisions cited by Roe and Casey involved the critical moral question posed by abortion. Accordingly, those cases do not support the right to obtain an abortion, and the Court’s conclusion that the Constitution does not confer such a right does not undermine them in any way.”

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who many see as the architect behind the transformation of the court to a conservative majority, lauded the decision.

“The Court has corrected a terrible legal and moral error, like when Brown v. Board overruled Plessy v. Ferguson,” McConnell said. “The Justices applied the Constitution. They carefully weighed the complex factors regarding precedent. The Court overturned mistaken rulings that even liberals have long admitted were incoherent, restoring the separation of powers. I commend the Court for its impartiality in the face of attempted intimidation.”

U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers also applauded the decision and said today’s ruling effectively bans abortion in Kentucky.

“This monumental decision restores regulatory power to each state,” Rogers said. “It immediately blocks all access to abortion in states, like Kentucky, where trigger laws were enacted to put the Supreme Court’s ruling into effect simultaneously.”

The decision marks the climax of a nearly half-century fight by social conservatives to overturn the decision. Now the battle will turn to state legislatures, which now have the court’s blessing to regulate or outlaw abortion, as they see fit.

Minutes after the court’s decision was announced, Kentucky’s Republican Caucus released a statement from Rep. Nancy Tate, of Brandenburg, praised the outcome.

“Today marks a historic moment in the fight to protect our most vulnerable,” Tate said. “With this ruling in the Dobbs case, the Supreme Court of the United States validates decades of assertions that there is no place in a document that seeks to secure ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for a procedure that serves no purpose other than to end the life of an innocent human being.”

Tate also used the occasion to seek support for the “No Right to Abortion Amendment” on the Kentucky ballot this fall.

“This Kentucky General Assembly is the most pro-life in our Commonwealth’s history and we will continue to advocate for those who have no voice,” Tate said. “I urge Kentuckians to vote ‘YES!’ for proposed constitutional amendment #2 on this November’s ballot. Doing so will amend the Kentucky Constitution to state unequivocally that nothing in our state constitution creates a right to abortion or requires government funding for it.”

Meanwhile, Gov. Andy Beshear warned of dire consequences in light of today’s ruling.

“Today’s decision triggers an extremist Kentucky law that creates a total ban in Kentucky that will eliminate all options for victims of rape or incest,” Beshear said in a statement released on Twitter. “As the former chief prosecutor of Kentucky, I know that these violent crimes happen, and not having options for victims of rape and incest is wrong.”

Likewise, a statement released from Kentucky’s Democratic caucus chairs says the Dobbs decision could lead to the erosion of other rights.

“Mark our words: Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on abortion will be seen in the future as our era’s Plessy v. Ferguson,” said the statement signed by Rep. Joni Jenkins and Sen. Morgan McGarvey. “This abhorrent ruling erases nearly 50 years of the court’s own precedents while sending women’s reproductive rights — and risking others like same-sex marriage and rights to contraception — back to the 1700s; it goes against the views of a durable majority of Americans; and, most critically, it needlessly and cruelly threatens the lives of millions of women while telling them they no longer have authority over their own bodies.  This is beyond wrong, and we stand with those who will fight with all we have to overturn this travesty as soon as possible.” 

The full text of the Dobbs decision can be found below:

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Frankfort, KY — A Kentucky law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and show fetal images to patients prior to abortions is constitutional, a divided federal appeals court declared Thursday. The ruling by a panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a victory for Kentucky’s Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, a staunch abortion opponent. The 2017 law was enacted soon after the GOP took complete control of Kentucky’s legislature. The statute drew an immediate challenge from the state’s last remaining abortion clinic, and a lower court judge struck it down. The 2-1 ruling Thursday reversed the lower court. The appeals court panel’s majority opinion said the law doesn’t violate a doctor’s First Amendment rights. Bevin’s office called it “a major pro-life legal victory” and said it was a historic day. A senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project, called the ruling “not only extremely disappointing but also alarming.” Kentucky’s law, known as House Bill 2, requires doctors to describe the ultrasound in detail while the pregnant woman listens to the fetal heartbeat. Women can avert their eyes and ask to have the sound of the heartbeat turned off. Doctors failing to comply face fines and can be referred to the state’s medical-licensing board.

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FRANKFORT, KY. — A bill that would prohibit an abortion if a fetal heartbeat was detected advanced out of the state Senate by a 31-6 vote. Senate Bill 9 sponsor, Sen. Matt Castlen, said another provision of SB 9 would provide exceptions for medical emergencies. Language in SB 9 also specifically states the measure would not restrict access to contraceptives. Sen. Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, explained why she voted against SB 9. “This bill has been declared unconstitutional and it is going to cost Kentucky hundreds of thousands of dollars,” she said in reference to anticipated court challenges. Senate President Robert Stivers II, R-Manchester, voted for SB 9 before addressing some of the criticism of the measure. He said the Supreme Court could reverse precedence, and it’s well beyond the chamber’s ability to try to prognosticate. SB 9 now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

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