In his final address as president of the American Medical Association, Kentucky’s Dr. Bruce A. Scott called on the medical community to turn its “anger into action” to protect the medical safety net now under threat in Congress.

Scott, an ear, nose and throat specialist from Louisville, closed out his term as president of the AMA by slamming insurance denials and Republican proposals in Congress that he said threaten the future of medicine.

“The same House bill that brings us closer to finally tying future Medicare payment to the rising cost of running our practices also takes a step backwards by limiting access to care for millions of low income Americans,” Scott said. “Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act are literal lifelines for children and families for whom subsidized health coverage is the only real option.”

He added: “We must do all we can to protect the safety net and continue to educate lawmakers on how best to target waste and fraud in a system without making it tougher for vulnerable populations to access care.”

In late May, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the controversial spending and tax package, dubbed the “big, beautiful bill” by President Donald Trump who supports the measure. Many health advocates are warning it will hurt hospitals and patients. The bill, which is now in the hands of the Senate, proposes deep cuts to Medicaid, the federal-state program that pays for almost 1 in 3 Kentuckians’ health care.

The AMA is working “to target the Senate as we work for improvements in this bill,” Scott said.

He called for more legislative advocacy, saying that “the times call for some anger” but “we can channel that anger into positive action.”

Among other things, Inside Higher Education reports that the bill could “entirely reshape the student loan system.” This, Scott said during his farewell address to the AMA House of Delegates Friday in Chicago, complicates the future for an already dwindling physician workforce.

The proposed lending practices in the bill would make medical education “virtually unaffordable for many students,” he said, calling that “simply unconscionable.” Kentucky has a well-documented physician shortage. The Kentucky Medical Association reports that most counties don’t have enough primary care providers.

“Our nation should be working to bring down the cost of medical education, not erecting barriers that defer brilliant young minds from pursuing this noble profession,” he said.

Meanwhile, Scott said, “our patience is being tested by this new administration and Congress.”

“Despite all the efforts of everyone in this room and our colleagues across the country, our health care system is failing in fundamental ways. It’s failing physicians and, more importantly, it is failing our patients,” Scott said. “I’m angry because the dysfunction in health care today goes hand in hand with years of dysfunction in Congress. Physicians are bearing the brunt of a failed Medicare payment system, and while our pay has been cut 33% in 25 years, we see hospitals and even insurance companies receiving annual increases. Congress needs to know that there is no ‘care’ in Medicare if there are no doctors.”

In addition to federal policy, Scott criticized insurance companies that deny doctor-recommended care. He said he recently had a patient with a large tumor pushing into her eye that he needed to remove surgically. Her insurance provider initially denied the procedure, recommending “an antibiotic and a steroid nasal spray” first.

“Are you kidding me?” Scott said. “An antibiotic and a nasal spray to treat her tumor? Without seeing the patient, without talking to the patient, without completing even one single semester of medical school, this insurance representative determined that she knew more than the patient’s doctor.”

Such denials lead to confusion and stress for patients, Scott said, and frustration for doctors that eventually “become too much to overcome” and force people to leave the profession.

This, he said, is “a system that is undermining our judgment and eroding our patients’ trust.”

“What insurance companies are doing to our patients is wrong,” Scott said. “Stepping between us and our patients is wrong. Denying necessary and even life saving care is just plain wrong.”

Scott’s term as AMA president ends Tuesday. Michigan’s Dr. Bobby Mukkamala was elected as his successor last year.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

Two unvaccinated babies have died from pertussis, better known as whooping cough, in Kentucky in the last six months, the Kentucky Department for Public Health announced Friday.

These two deaths in infants, whose mothers were also not vaccinated against pertussis, are the first whooping cough deaths in Kentucky since 2018, the department said.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious respiratory illness that can be life threatening. It is most dangerous for babies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can, however, affect people of any age.

“Anyone can get whooping cough, but infants are at greatest risk for life-threatening illness,” Dr. Steven Stack, the state’s public health commissioner, said in a statement. “Fortunately, when vaccinations are administered to pregnant women, it provides protection to both the mother and the baby.”

The state’s public health department says there have been 247 cases of whooping cough so far in 2025. In 2024, there were 543 cases, the most since 2012.

“Health officials anticipate that whooping cough will continue to increase during the summer and fall, based on historic trends,” the department said.

Vaccines are available to children as young as 2 months old and can help prevent it, the CDC says. The recommended vaccines are DTaP for children and Tdap for preteens. Concerned parents can call their primary care providers to ask about vaccines.

Symptoms of whooping cough include, according to the Kentucky Department of Public Health:

• Runny or stuffy nose
• Uncontrollable coughing
• Vomiting from coughing
• Fever below 100.4 Fahrenheit
• Apnea (life-threatening pauses in breathing) and cyanosis (turning blue or purple) in infants and young children

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

Jessica Henninger wants to protect her children from the political climate that briefly closed their school library at Fort Campbell and led to books being removed from the shelves.

“There’s a very fine line between having your children be aware of what’s going on in the world around them, and not burdening them with adult things,” Henninger said. “But … when (Black History Month) projects are canceled after you’ve completed them … they notice that stuff.”

Citing her husband’s military service and their joint devotion to the U.S. Constitution, Henninger has joined a federal lawsuit on behalf of her children, citing First Amendment concerns and asking the courts to block President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders in schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA). Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a defendant.

Book purges at Fort Campbell, other schools run by Defense Department challenged as unconstitutional

Henninger has five children: two have graduated from DODEA schools and three are still students, named in the lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union filed Tuesday. That suit challenges U.S. Department of Defense policies that led to schools at Fort Campbell and other military bases removing books about slavery and civil rights.

Henninger, whose husband is in the military and is stationed at Fort Campbell, has lived in Kentucky since October.

Before that, in all their travels, “I can’t recall a time in our years at DODEA where my children’s curriculum was affected by anything that was going on in the presidency,” Henninger told a small group of reporters over Zoom on Wednesday.

“We owe our children to be honest,” she said. “I’m very fearful that these actions (are) trying to take away my children’s opportunities to learn about integral parts of our history, our American history … and different cultures. That’s what makes education — and life — rich. It’s all of those differences. My younger children … they deserve the right to learn about that stuff.”

The lawsuit: ‘Books shouldn’t be banned’

Via executive order Trump directed schools receiving federal funding to not teach “ideology that treats individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups, rather than as individuals;” he also told the Armed Forces to dissolve DEI offices and directed all federal agencies to recognize only cisgender male and female identities.

In February, Clarksville Now, a news outlet in Clarksville, Tennessee, reported Fort Campbell librarians were busy “scrubbing for books that contain references to slavery, the civil rights movement and anything else related to diversity, equity and inclusion” in compliance with Trump’s orders.

Fort Campbell is an Army base that spans the Kentucky-Tennessee border between Hopkinsville and Clarksville.

Fort Campbell schools also had to remove “bulletin boards that reference Black History Month and Black leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks,” according to Clarksville Now.

Corey Shapiro, legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said Wednesday he hopes for a preliminary injunction to “get some relief sooner rather than later from the court.”

“We’re still evaluating exactly the timing on next steps and building that out,” he said.

He also wants to see more transparency around which books are removed from shelves, and where those books go.

But, he asserted: “none of these books should be taken out.”

“To some extent, it doesn’t really matter whether we have a list or sort of engage in a debate on which individual book is the appropriate thing,” Shapiro said. “The issue here is that books shouldn’t be banned from school libraries. Kids should have an opportunity to have access to all the books in the school library without fear that somebody in the Department of Defense is going to determine that it shouldn’t be there based on an executive order regarding a ban on certain types of viewpoints.”

‘I could not abide’

Soon after the executive orders, Henninger “started getting emails from the kids’ teachers, basically that just made me think that there was something going on.”

She got “notifications that assignments were being canceled, then that the library just unexpectedly closed down.”

She immediately started investigating, contacted the ACLU to help and ultimately joined the multi-state federal lawsuit in an attempt to block the Trump administration from carrying out the anti-DEI orders.

“I have a very strong belief that children should have access to books,” said Henninger, who is herself a “voracious reader.”

“When I was a child, I read. That’s how I learned about the world around me. It’s how I learned about other people and life experiences outside of my own,” she said. “And I feel like that is an important part of being able to understand other people. And to have those options taken away from my children was something that I have never experienced before.”

All her children, too, love books, she said.

“We’ve never had an administration come in and interfere in this way with our children’s education,” she said. “My husband fights for our constitutional rights and our freedoms in this country, and to see those rights being taken away from my children was just absolutely something that I could not abide.”

After the lawsuit was filed, Michael O’Day, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense Education Activity, said he couldn’t comment on an active lawsuit but offered praise for the agency’s “dedication to providing an exceptional educational experience for every student.” More than 67,000 students worldwide are enrolled in schools run by the DODEA.

“Our curriculum, rigorously aligned with DoDEA’s proven standards, has earned us the distinction of being the top-ranked school system in the United States for four consecutive years, based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Nation’s Report Card,” O’Day said in a statement. “These standards promote academic excellence, critical thinking, and a learning environment that empowers all military-connected students to excel.”

Henninger attributes the success in part to the diversity of the student body.

“I think part of this strength is our diversity — the diversity of people that come together and we learn from each other, and that’s part of our strength,” she said. “And so to see that potentially being taken away from my younger children? That’s harmful.”

She believes the executive orders are politically motivated and cited the Trump administration’s deportations of immigrants, saying his presidential campaign was “propped on” immigration issues.

“And then when you see them coming into the libraries and removing those items … common sense would dictate that two plus two equals four. That’s definitely politically motivated,” she said.

‘We can’t whitewash’ history

For military families like Henninger’s, DODEA schools are often the only option, though that can vary based on where a soldier is stationed. Private education is expensive. Henninger’s best path was to fight back within the DODEA system, she said.

Other plaintiffs represented by the ACLU are enrolled in Defense Department schools in Virginia, Italy and Japan.

“We don’t have a lot of the same recourses that that families have in the public education system. We can’t just go to our school board and and say, ‘This is unacceptable.’ We very much have to worry about retaliation and retribution. And so there’s a lot of stress and anxiety around that for a lot of people, which is understandable,” Henninger said.

She and her husband talked about the risks of joining such a lawsuit and ultimately decided she had to.

“Basically what it boiled down to (for my husband) was: ‘I joined the military to defend the Constitution, and if I can’t defend our children’s constitutional rights, then what am I doing as a soldier?'”

Her children “have their First Amendment rights just like everybody else. It’s not fair to them just because their father is a soldier that they shouldn’t be able to have the same rights as everybody else.”

She wants her children to learn about the full history of their country, including the “not so pretty parts: the Trail of Tears and slavery and the fight for civil rights.”

“It is our true history,” she said. “And we can’t whitewash that away.”

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

FRANKFORT — The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a request from former Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to strike down a federal jury’s judgment against her, which came with a $100,000 price tag.

The opinion came down Thursday, a little more than a month after a three-judge panel heard oral arguments on the matter.

Senior Judge Helene N. White, appointed by President George W. Bush, delivered the opinion. Judge Andre B. Mathis, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, concurred. Judge Chad A. Readler, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, concurred in part.

Davis’ lawyer has argued that when she refused to issue a marriage license to same-sex couple David Ermold and David Moore a decade ago, she was protected by the First Amendment, which promises freedom of speech, religion and the press.

Kim Davis’ lawyer eager for next step as he argues same-sex marriage case before appeals panel

The judges did not agree, writing in their Thursday opinion that “Davis cannot raise a Free Exercise Clause defense because she is being held liable for state action, which the First Amendment does not protect.”

The judges furthermore called Davis’ actions while a county clerk a “quintessential state action.”

“The First Amendment shields Davis where she ‘functioned as a private citizen,’ but not where she “engaged in state action,’” the opinion states.

Davis’ lawyer, Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver, also argued the $100,000 Davis was ordered to pay was arbitrary because one could not quantify emotional damage. The judges rejected that, pointing to case law as a basis and citing testimony from the men about feeling frightened and humiliated.

Staver also argued that Ermold and Moore could have gotten their license elsewhere, which the judges said “only compounded the stigma.”

Staver previously told the Lantern that his team’s goal is for the appeal to reach the U.S. Supreme Court and that, should the appeals panel rule against him, he would appeal to the higher court.

The case would then provide the justices an opportunity to re-evaluate Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision that guaranteed same-sex couples marriage rights, on the same grounds that the court in 2022 used to overturn the federal right to abortion, Staver said.

In a press release following the ruling, Liberty Counsel said it “intends to seek further review” before the full appeals court.

“The full Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will have a chance to give Kim Davis justice in this case since the emotional distress damage award against her in her individual capacity is barred by the First Amendment,” Staver said in a statement. “This case underscores why the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, because that decision threatens the religious liberty of many Americans who believe that marriage is a sacred institution between one man and one woman. The First Amendment precludes making the choice between your faith and your livelihood.”

Judge Readler wrote in his partial concurrence that “right or wrong, the fact remains that we all must follow Obergefell, the law of the land.”

He also addressed the First Amendment argument, writing that Davis’ denial of the marriage license “exceeded the scope of any personal right.”

The appeals panel ruling affirmed a decision by U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning.

Chris Hartman, the executive director of Kentucky’s Fairness Campaign, which works to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, criticized Davis’ ongoing case.

“Kim Davis couldn’t stop marriage equality ten years ago,” he said in a statement, “and she can’t stop it now.”

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

A Kentucky child who was unvaccinated for influenza has died from the flu, the Kentucky Department for Public Health announced Friday.

This is the first pediatric flu death this season, according to the department. Nothing else about the child is known.

This comes as flu vaccination is down around the state, with 17% of Kentucky children receiving a flu vaccine this season, the department said.

Louisville health department officials said earlier Friday that nearly 3,000 children had tested positive for flu this week in Jefferson County, where fewer than 30% got their updated flu shot this season.

“Influenza is on the rise across Kentucky,” Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, viruses like influenza and COVID-19 are serious diseases that can be deadly to some people, including children. Vaccination is the best way to prevent severe illness and death.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months old and older get their annual flu and COVID-19 vaccines.

“It is important for people who have not been vaccinated this season to get their updated influenza and COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible, along with other recommended immunizations, to protect themselves and others,” Stack said. Other steps people can take include washing hands with soap and water often, covering coughs and sneezes and staying home when sick.

Most flu and COVID-19 cases involve mild illness, the department said. Some may experience serious symptoms including difficulty or fast breathing, seizures, bluish lips or face, fever higher than 104, cough that improves but then comes back or gets worse or dehydration.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

A Northern Kentuckian has died from rabies, the Kentucky Department for Public Health announced Friday.

It’s unclear how the person contracted rabies, which is typically transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal.

The person was treated both in Kentucky and Ohio, the department said, so both states are coordinating an investigation into the case with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Officials are also working to notify anyone who came in contact with the person, whose age and gender was not disclosed.

This case is the first confirmed case of rabies infection in a human being in Kentucky since 1996, the public health department said.

“Rabies is a rare but serious disease caused by a virus that infects the brain,” Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky’s public health commissioner, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, if left untreated, rabies is usually fatal. Immediate medical care after a suspected exposure to rabies is critical, as rabies treatment called post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, is nearly 100% effective at preventing rabies.”

Symptoms of rabies include confusion, agitation and coma. Anyone who comes across a wild animal should avoid contact, the health department advised. Pets should also stay up to date on vaccinations for protection against rabies.

Anyone who thinks they have been exposed to rabies should call their health care provider immediately.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

LOUISVILLE — A pregnant woman who wants an abortion is suing in Jefferson Circuit Court to challenge Kentucky laws banning the procedure, the American Civil Liberties Union announced Tuesday.

The plaintiff, identified by the pseudonym Mary Poe in the lawsuit, said in a statement that “ending my pregnancy is the best decision for me and my family.”

“I feel overwhelmed and frustrated that I cannot access abortion care here in my own state, and I have started the difficult process of arranging to get care in another state where it’s legal,” Poe said. “This involves trying to take time off work and securing child care, all of which place an enormous burden on me. This is my personal decision, a decision I believe should be mine alone, not one made by anyone else.”

Among others, the lawsuit names as defendantsAttorney General Russell Coleman and Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander.

In a statement, Coleman said, “my position has not changed.”

“It’s the Attorney General’s responsibility to defend the laws passed by the General Assembly, and we will zealously work to uphold these laws in court,” Coleman said. “After listening to prosecutors, crime victims and my family, I believe the law should be amended to include exceptions for rape and incest in addition to the existing exception for life and health of the mother. This mainstream position is consistent with my faith, and I believe is shared by most Kentuckians, including so many who consider themselves pro-life.”

‘Irreparable harms’

Poe, who is about seven weeks pregnant and lives in Louisville, is asking that the state’s abortion bans be overturned and declared “unconstitutional and unenforceable,” according to the 42-page lawsuit. The court document also states “the bans and the irreparable harms they inflict are an affront to the health and dignity of all Kentuckians.”

‘Between rock, hard place:’ Will anyone ever have standing to challenge Kentucky’s abortion ban?

The lawsuit also states that “Mary Poe and the other putative and future class members are suffering medical, constitutional, and irreparable harm because they are denied the ability to obtain an abortion.”

Amber Duke, executive director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said in a statement that voters’ rejection of Amendment 2 in 2022 showed “Kentuckians support access to abortion care without government interference.”

That amendment would have stated that there is no right to abortion in the commonwealth’s Constitution.

“While that victory at the ballot box kept an abortion ban out of the state Constitution, this lawsuit, brought by a person actively seeking care, is the next step in overturning the bans currently in place,” Duke said. “We hope for an ultimate victory that aligns with the will of the people and overturns these unconstitutional bans.”

Poe said she wants “to ensure that other Kentuckians will not have to go through what I am going through, and instead will be able to get the health care they need in our community.”

Standing versus merit

Poe’s lawsuit is the fourth challenging Kentucky abortion laws since the United States Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that had protected the right to abortion for almost 50 years. The ruling triggered Kentucky’s ban into effect.

The first challenge, filed by abortion providers, advanced in Jefferson Circuit Court but was rejected on appeal.

Last December, a woman filed a lawsuit similar to the newest challenge, stating she was pregnant and did not wish to be. Within days of filing her lawsuit, though, the pregnancy lost viability and she ended her challenge of the law.

In two cases, Kentucky courts, including the state Supreme Court, have rejected challenges to the ban on grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the action; the U.S. Supreme Court has likewise avoided ruling on the merits of abortion bans.

Kentucky’s Supreme Court is changing in makeup after the Nov. 5 election. In January, Appeals Court Judge Pamela Goodwine will succeed Justice Laurance VanMeter, the current chief justice, who did not seek reelection. For the first time, Kentucky’s highest court will be majority female.

This story may be updated.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and X.