A Kentucky state representative sparked fury by telling its legislature that Jewish women were at lower risk of cervical cancer because they had fewer sexual partners, and that abortion medication was used in gas chambers.
State Representative Danny Bentley – a qualified pharmacist – stood on the floor to debate House Bill 3, a ubiquitous anti-abortion bill that passed 77-20 later that day when he made the jaw-dropping remark.
Bentley explains the theory about the sex lives of Jewish women, saying, ‘The man who really developed it was a Jew, as we raised the Hebrew family today.
‘Did you know that a Jewish woman gets less cervical cancer than any other race in this country or this world? and why is that? Because Jewish women have only one sexual partner… they do not have many sexual partners. To say that the Jewish people now accept this medicine is wrong.’
Republican The legislator spoke out after falsely claiming that RU-486, or mifepristone – one of two pills taken to terminate an early pregnancy – was created during World War II and was originally called Zyclone B. . A cyanide-based gas used to kill Jews. Holocaust.
Earlier in the day, a Democratic representative filed an amendment that would exempt Jewish women from the rules, because the faith does not recognize that life begins with conception, according to Louisville. courier-journal,
Representative Danny Bentley of Kentucky has apologized for commenting on the sex lives of Jewish women during Wednesday’s debate on an anti-abortion bill.
Other lawmakers laughed as Bentley falsely claimed that the abortion pill was derived from a cyanide-based gas used to kill Jewish people in the Holocaust.
Republican’s remarks were immediately condemned by Jewish groups and Democratic Governor Andy Beshear.
Beshear wrote in a tweet on Thursday that ‘there is no place for anti-Semitism in Kentucky’
Bentley’s comments were condemned by several Jewish organizations and the Kentucky government. Andy Beshear, who said on Thursday that ‘there is no place for anti-Semitism in Kentucky’. Not in our communities and not in our government.’
Bentley has represented Kentucky’s 98th district in the State House of Representatives since 2017. State website,
He is a pharmacist from Russell, a river town near the borders of West Virginia and Ohio, with a doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Kentucky.
The MPs sitting behind Bentley laughed during his speech, but his remarks continued unabated.
The Republican apologized for his remarks on Wednesday night.
‘I didn’t mean anything to my comments today and sincerely apologize for what they’ve done. Last week we received a heartbreakingly sad reminder that anti-Semitism still exists in our society and I apologize if my comments caused the same pain today or have any doubts that I stand against hatred of the Jewish community. I am I stand,’ he said.
Bentley was likely referring to an anti-Semitic email sent to various lawmakers in the Kentucky House last week, the Courier-Journal reports.
The Jewish Union of Louisville and the American Jewish Committee offered training to legislators about understanding and combating anti-Semitism, and a spokesman for Kentucky Senate Republicans said the current annual slate of Senate leadership training includes Jews— Will add sensitivity training on the opponent.
‘My intention was to speak as a pharmacist about the history of RU-486 and to respond to the proposed amendment. I obviously should have been more sensitive to my comments.’
But state Sen. Karen Berg, a Democrat from Louisville and the only Jewish member of the Kentucky legislature, says the information was wrong anyway.
She says the drug was actually developed by a Jewish man, but that was in the 1980s.
The legislator falsely claimed mifepristone – one of two pills taken to induce abortion – was made during World War II and was originally called Zyclone B, which was used to kill Jewish people. used to go. There was gas to go.
The drug was invented by a Jewish man, but in the 1980s, much after World War II
Rep. Bentley is a pharmacist from Russell, a river town near the borders of West Virginia and Ohio. He earned his doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Kentucky
She told the Courier-Journal, ‘The first clinical trial on this drug has nothing to do with (and) World War II. ‘That the developer was actually of Jewish origin … what does it matter? And why is it being brought on the floor?’
The American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Association of Louisville and the National Council of Jewish Women’s Louisville Division issued a joint statement Wednesday night condemning Bentley’s remarks.
“On Wednesday, during a hearing on women’s reproductive choices, Rep. Danny Bentley went on a bizarre, anti-Semitic rant, including bizarre claims about the sex lives of Jewish women and outrageous claims of Jews making the ‘abortion pill. Were. was. catastrophe to profit financially,’ he said.
‘We call on all elected officials and community partners to strongly condemn anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, especially as they stem from officials elected to serve the people of the Commonwealth.’
The bill that was being debated, House Bill 3, would ban the shipment of a drug used to induce abortion by mail, which is now allowed in several states following a federal rule change that allows the person to travel. allows eliminating the need for
This would require burial or cremation of the remains of the fetus.
The law would make it more difficult for underage girls to have an abortion without parental approval. It also puts the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy in charge of enforcing regulations about drugs, which account for about half of abortions performed in Kentucky.
Now it will go to the Senate.