Louisiana lawmakers pass abortion ban
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana lawmakers on Wednesday passed a strict new abortion ban that would prohibit the procedure before some women even know they are pregnant, joining a halfdozen conservative states with similar measures.
In a 79-23 vote, the Louisiana House gave final passage to a bill barring abortion once there’s a detectable fetal heartbeat, as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. Gov. John Bel Edwards, the Deep South’s only Democratic governor, supports the ban and intends to sign it into law despite opposition from national party leaders who say such laws are attacks on women.
“I know there are many who feel just as strongly as I do on abortion and disagree with me — and I respect their opinions,” Edwards said in a statement after the ban’s passage. “As I prepare to sign this bill, I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build a better Louisiana that cares for the least among us and provides more opportunity for everyone.”
Lawmakers in conservative states across the nation are striking at the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe V. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationally. Abortion opponents are pushing new restrictions on the procedure in hopes that a case will make its way to the high court and two new conservative justices appointed by President Donald Trump could help overturn Roe.
“When you can hear a baby’s heartbeat, that is proof that life is present,” said Rep. Valarie Hodges, the Republican who handled the ban in the Louisiana House. “How much do we value life?”
Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio have enacted similar so-called heartbeat bills, while Missouri lawmakers approved an eight-week ban on abortion. Alabama’s gone even further , outlawing virtually all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest. None of the bans has taken effect, and all are expected to face legal challenges.
Louisiana’s prohibition would take hold only if neighboring Mississippi’s law is upheld by a federal appeals court. A federal judge temporarily blocked that Mississippi law Friday.
Abortion rights activists said Louisiana’s bill would effectively eliminate abortion as an option before many women realize they are pregnant. Rep. Gary Carter, a Democrat who opposed the measure, said the ban violates privacy rights, taking away women’s constitutional protections.
“I believe the right to life supersedes every other right we have,” Hodges said.
Carter replied, his voice rising: “Who are you to tell a woman what they can and cannot do with their body?”
Republicans voted in a bloc for the bill, along with about a dozen Democrats.