Candidates wrangle over abortion policy in Kentucky gubernatorial debate

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron have accused each other of taking extreme positions on abortion policy

During an hourlong debate at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky, the rivals fielded questions over education, taxes, public safety and the monthlong strike by autoworkers, which has spread to Ford's highly profitable Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville.

The candidates tried to one-up the other in their support for public education. Some of their sharpest exchanges during the televised debate, however, came when asked to lay out their stands on abortion.

Their remarks, which took place about three weeks before the Nov. 7 election, came against the backdrop of Kentucky's current abortion law, which bans the procedure except when carried out to save a pregnant woman’s life or to prevent a disabling injury.

Beshear said that his challenger celebrated the abortion ban’s passage and pointed to Cameron’s long-running support for the law as written, without exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.