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Former legislator Addia Wuchner named executive director of Kentucky Right to Life Association


By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today

A former state lawmaker from Northern Kentucky has been named as the new executive director of the Kentucky Right to Life Association.


Addia Wuchner, a Louisville native, served in the House of Representatives, where she represented Boone County from 2005 until 2019.

During that time, she became the first woman chair the House Standing Committee on Health and Family Services. While in Frankfort, she was a strong pro-life advocate.

Addia Wuchner


  

In 2017, she was the first co-sponsor of the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act, which requires an ultrasound prior to an abortion.  While the legislation was the subject of a lawsuit, it was upheld by the Supreme Court.


In 2018, she was deeply involved in what was known as The Human Rights of the Child Act, which would ban an abortion method that dismembered the fetus. That bill has been placed on hold, due to a federal appeals court ruling.


Other legislation in which she played a major role included:

In 2006, she worked to ensure her child pornography legislation became law, raising the offense of child pornography in Kentucky from a Misdemeanor to a Class D Felony.


In 2010 after months of work, her Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma Act, the “Shaken Baby Prevention” bill, passed and became model legislation for child abuse prevention.


In 2013 she co-sponsored the Kentucky Human Trafficking Victims Right Act, which successfully passed, sending a clear message that this modern-day slavery has no place in Kentucky.


A long-time advocate for dyslexia awareness and ensuring Kentucky students early identification and appropriate interventions, she championed both the 2012 Kentucky’s Response to Intervention Act and the 2018 Ready to Read Act.


Wuchner is a registered nurse and has been a dedicated healthcare professional for over 36 years, recognized for her contributions in advancing the role of bioethics in healthcare and public policy. She began her career as a nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Louisville.


She served six years on the Northern Kentucky Independent Health Department Board of Directors with the goal of improving both the economic and physical well-being of all Kentuckians, especially our most vulnerable citizens, children.


Thomas More University awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters in recognition of her overall contributions in bioethics, rights of the unborn, and international humanitarian aid.


Wuchner and her husband Jan, a retired Kentucky State Police trooper, have three children and 12 grandchildren. 


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