Not every Kentuckian has the health care they deserve.

Now, that's according to the advocates at the Reproductive Freedom rally on Thursday.

They want lawmakers to stay out of decisions they say should be between Kentuckians and their physicians, and they want students to have access to sex education in schools.

In my party, we pride ourselves in limited government and individual liberty, and there is no greater liberty than the right to make your own health care decisions without a bureaucrat standing between you and your doctor.

When I think of the pursuit of happiness, the ability to control one's own fertility is at the very heart of that promise.

Right now, Kentucky is facing a quiet emergency, a critical shortage of OB GYNs in our rural counties.

Women are driving over an hour just for a routine checkup.

When we make it harder for clinics like Planned Parenthood to operate, we are protecting anyone.

I have been a patient at Planned Parenthood.

I didn't go there to make a political statement.

I went there for health care.

Our public schools are prohibited from providing to comprehensive sex education, leaving many young people without the information they need to understand their bodies and to protect their own health and safety.

And the consequences are real.

Kentucky ranks seventh in the nation for teen birth rates and above the national average in teen pregnancies.

The elementary teachers tell us about students who are terrified when they start menstruating because they have no idea why they're bleeding.

And under Kentucky law, their teachers can't talk to them about it.

When students have access to sex education, they're able to see the signs when they're in an abusive situation.

They're able to learn how to say no confidently.

They're able to go get STI tested.

They're able to know how to have sex safely because restricting sex education isn't going to make students stop having sex.

It's going to make them stop having sex safely.

Also, State Representative Sarah Stalker, a Democrat from Louisville, discussed House Bill 817 at that rally, which she filed to counteract House Bill 714, which would criminalize any woman who has an abortion.