One state legislative candidate isn’t waiting until he takes office to draft a constitutional amendment.
Rory Houlihan, who is running again for state representative, already has one written and ready to introduce if he is elected.
It’s the same one he has promoted in previous races and tried to get other lawmakers to propose.
The amendment would bar any infringement of a woman’s right to choose whether or not to conceive or give birth, and if she does decide to carry the baby to term, she and her family would be entitled to a living income.
Also included in the proposed ballot initiative are guarantees to allow access to contraceptives and in-vitro fertilization.
If the mother is incapacitated during her pregnancy and cannot make the decision on her own, “a person by her writ or blood can make her medical decisions,” including whether to terminate the pregnancy or end the mother’s life.
“Understand, I’m empowering women to be responsible,” Houlihan said.
The candidate said that women are intelligent and can make their own decisions.
He noted that countries with higher rates of contraception have lower rates of abortion.
Instead of banning abortion, he said, he wants to put more emphasis on avoiding unwanted pregnancies and helping women who decide to have children.
“My main goal is to get an amendment that folks could vote on that would protect a woman’s right to life and mental health,” he said.
Houlihan mentioned that his mother nearly died during a late-term miscarriage, and that’s why he focuses on the health of expectant mothers.
“I’m well aware of how a pregnancy can go wrong real quick,” he said.
“Is it the only thing I’m interested in? No,” he said. But it has been the key issue in his five campaigns for the 73rd District seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives.
In 2018, 2020, and 2022, Houlihan lost in the Democratic primary to other candidates who then lost to the Republican nominee. In 2024, he was the Democratic nominee and got just under 40 percent of the vote, losing to Republican Ryan Dotson, who is currently the state representative but is running for Congress, making it a wide-open race for the soon-to-be-vacant seat.
Like his primary opponent, Chelsea Kirk of Lexington, Houlihan has never held elected office, but like her, he was inspired by a grandfather who was involved in Democratic politics. His grandfather was a local party chair and worked on Sen. William Proxmire’s campaigns in Wisconsin.
Houlihan, a native of Wisconsin, grew up in Waukesha, where he went to a Catholic high school, then attended St. Norbert and Carol College before transferring to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he earned a non-teaching degree in economics in 1986.
He said he also has studied microbiology on his own and worked on a “clean coal” project.
Houlihan and his wife, Teri, moved to Kentucky from Largo, Florida, in 1998 and lived for a few months in a tent at the Fort Boonesborough State Park campground while he worked at Hall’s on the River. Then they moved to Winchester, where he got a job with Lowe’s, where he’s worked for 28 years.
They have two adult children and six grandchildren, including a grandson who lives with them.
Houlihan has been active in community service as a volunteer for several programs, including Habitat for Humanity, early childhood development, and youth soccer.
His first foray into politics was as a U.S. Senate candidate in 2016, when he finished last in a seven-candidate primary. After that, he said, he decided to try for something “closer to home.”
Asked why he continues to run after losing so many times, Houlihan answered: “Basically, I’m a problem solver. … We need somebody in the House who is a problem solver, not a problem maker.”
Houlihan said he wasn’t going to run in 2024 because his wife was sick with complications from COVID-19, but the Democratic Party reached out to him on Dec. 31, 2023 because it didn’t have a candidate.
“I couldn’t let her die, and I couldn’t let someone who seemed to be more interested in lining his pockets than representing us go unchallenged,” he remembered.
Houlihan described himself both as a “progressive Christian,” based on his reading of Matthew 5 and 25, and as a “moderate because of my Catholic background.”
“I also believe in liberal values,” he added.
Houlihan no longer regularly goes to Mass, but sometimes attends First Baptist Church on Highland Street.
The candidate said state Republican lawmakers have enacted “wage suppression laws” such as right to work, and he wants to make Kentucky a “living wage state.”
“I’m not a socialist,” he said. “A living wage reduces the need for government support.”
“When we give to the very wealthy … more and more of the wealth, we’re basically gutting the consumer class and creating more poverty, and that’s no way to grow an economy,” the former economics student said. “It’s no way to have a sustainable economy. So, as an economist … I know what needs to be done.”
Houlihan opposes the General Assembly’s effort to phase out the state income tax because it defunds government. He would rather “fund to enable our working folks,” he said.
He also wants the state to adequately fund Medicaid and is against cutting allocations and benefits.
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“If you cut Medicaid,” he said, that will take health care away from children, and “unhealthy kids grow up to be even more unhealthy adults.” That’s bad for “the future workforce,” he said.
Houlihan said he believes in being proactive, rather than trying to address problems after they’ve gotten out of control.
“Let’s address these problems early on … and save the taxpayers money by doing something,” he said.
Houlihan said he looks forward to serving the people of the 73rd District, which includes all of Clark County and part of Fayette. His Rory4Us campaign information is on Facebook and Instagram.
