Ky. Rev. Stat. § 311.7701 (2026)

As used in KRS 311.7701 to 311.7711: (1) "Conception" means fertilization; (2) "Contraceptive" means a drug, device, or chemical that prevents conception; (3) "Fertilization" has the same meaning as in KRS 311.781; (4) "Fetal heartbeat" means cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac; (5) "Fetus" means the human offspring developing during pregnancy from the moment of conception and includes the embryonic stage of development; (6) "Frivolous conduct" has the same meaning as in KRS 311.784; (7) "Gestational age" means the age of an unborn human individual as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of a pregnant woman; (8) "Gestational sac" means the structure that comprises the extraembryonic membranes that envelop the fetus and that is typically visible by ultrasound after the fourth week of pregnancy; (9) "Intrauterine pregnancy" means a pregnancy in which the fetus is attached to the placenta within the uterus of the pregnant woman; (10) "Medical emergency" has the same meaning as in KRS 311.781; (11) "Physician" has the same meaning as in KRS 311.720; (12) "Pregnancy" means the human female reproductive condition that begins with fertilization, when the woman is carrying the developing human offspring, and that is calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the woman; (13) "Serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function" has the same meaning as in KRS 311.781; (14) "Spontaneous miscarriage" means the natural or accidental termination of a pregnancy and the expulsion of the fetus, typically caused by genetic defects in the fetus or physical abnormalities in the pregnant woman; (15) "Standard medical practice" means the degree of skill, care, and diligence that a physician of the same medical specialty would employ in like circumstances. As applied to the method used to determine the presence of a fetal heartbeat for purposes of KRS 311.7704, "standard medical practice" includes employing the appropriate means of detection depending on the estimated gestational age of the fetus and the condition of the woman and her pregnancy; and (16) "Unborn child" and "unborn human individual" have the same meaning as "unborn child" has in KRS 311.781. Effective:March 15, 2019 History: Created 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 20, sec. 1, effective March 15, 2019.