2010 State
Legislative Session

Protecting Life at the Capitol

It has been a fantastic legislative session for defending life.  Take a look at the successes of some of the bills below, and look back soon for more updates!

LARTL 2010 State Legislative Updates:

• March 26: Legislative Session Preview
• April 15: Abortion Opt-Out Passes House Committee
• April 29: Ultrasound Bill Clears Senate Committee
• May 10: ACTION: Ask your Senators to Support the Ultrasound Bill!
• May 21: Ultrasound Bill Wins Approval on Senate Floor
• May 27: Opt-Out Clears Senate Committee
• June 4: Reception at Governor’s Mansion, and Ultrasound Bill passes House Committee
• June 14: Opt-Out Bill Passed!
• June 16: Ultrasound Bill PASSED!
• June 24: Legislative Wrap-Up

LARTL on the News Discussing Legislation:

• Ultrasound Discussion on Fox 8 New Orleans
• Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Discussion on Fox 8 New Orleans
• Ultrasound Bill on ABC 26 New Orleans (featuring LARTL friend Angie Thomas)

2010 Legislation

• Ultrasound Before Abortion Act (SB 528)

  • Requires ultrasounds to be performed before all abortions, and the abortion facility must offered, according to a specific script set forth in the bill, the woman the opportunity to see the ultrasound, hear a description of the image, and receive a print-out of the ultrasound image. Originally, the ultrasound screen had to be in view of the woman and she could choose whether to look at the screen or not, but that was amended away in the Senate Health and Welfare Committe.
  • Authored by Senator Sharon Weston Broome
  • LARTL Supported and Sponsored
  • Status: PASSED!
  • News Articles
    • Advocate: Final Passage of Ultrasound Bill
    • LARTL Featured in Advocate on House Committee Passage
    • Washington Post Article featuring LARTL and Ultrasound bill

• Abortion Insurance Opt-Out (HB 1247)

  • Opts Louisiana out of the abortion aspects of national health care reform by not allowing government-subsidized abortions in Louisiana health care.
  • Authored by Representative Frank Hoffman
  • LARTL Supported and Sponsored
  • Status: PASSED!
  • News Articles:
    • LifeSiteNews.com Article on Passage

• Abortion Facility Shut-Down Bill (HB 1370)

  • Authored by Representative Mills
  • Gives broader power to the Department of Health and Hospitals to shut-down abortion facilities out of compliance with the law, and to restrict certain abortion providers out of compliance from working in Louisiana again.
  • LARTL Supported and Sponsored
  • Status: PASSED!

• Choose Life Fix (SB 528)

  • Technical fix to the Choose Life License Plate program
  • Authored by Representative Hoffman and Senator Appel
  • LARTL Supported and Sponsored
  • PASSED!

1. Ultrasounds Required Before Abortions: Through the passage of the Ultrasound Before Abortion Act, ultrasounds must now be performed prior to all abortions in Louisiana.  In addition, the abortion facility employee, following a detailed script set forth in the legislation, must offer the woman the opportunity to see the ultrasound image, hear a description of the image, and receive a print-out of the ultrasound image.  Never before in Louisiana has an abortionist had to offer to a woman the chance to see her unborn child.  We hope many woman will choose to see the ultrasound and say yes to life!We will continue to work with the Department of Health and Hospitals to make sure this law is enforced and abortionists are not cutting corners.
2. LA Opted-Out of Government Abortions: Through the Abortion Insurance Opt-Out (HB
   1247), the government-funded abortions made possible through the President’s health care reform bill will not be available in Louisiana.  Without a doubt, this will save the lives that would have been lost had federal abortion subsidies been available here.
3. More Power to Remove Abortionists from State: HB 1370 not only gave more power to the Department of Health and Hospitals to immediately close abortion facilities that are out of compliance with the law, but enabled DHH to bar any abortionist who has been out of compliance from returning to abortion practice in Louisiana.  We will keep you informed as to any updates on action stemming from HB 1370.
4. Pro-Life Day Celebrated at Capitol: For one of the first times in state history, Louisiana Pro-Life Day was celebrated on the floor of both the State Senate and House.  Resolutions in both the House and Senate honored all pregnancy centers workers and volunteers for their life-saving efforts.
5. Choose Life Reception at Governor’s Mansion Honors Legislators: Also a first, we held the Choose Life Reception at the Governor’s Mansion on Pro-Life Day to honor the many pro-life legislators who fill the halls of our Capitol.  These members confidently protect life even though they face pressure from peers and outside groups.
6. End-of-Life Issue Safeguarded: For the last two years, a coalition of pro-life groups, led by the LA Catholic Conference of Bishops, has watched and evaluated an end-of-life related piece of legislation known as LaPOST (LA Physician Order for Life Sustaining Treatment).  Along with these groups, we were opposed to this legislation.  However, through plenty of work, pro-life forces were able to secure changes making the legislation acceptable.
7. Organ Donation Improved: HB 1123 and SB 453 were successfully amended to restore the two physician safeguard in organ donation.  This assures that the sanctity of life until natural death will be protected while allowing organ donation to take place.  Credit goes to Dr. Jeff White of Shreveport for his insightful analysis.
8. Choose Life Plate Fix Approved: After a legislative drafting blunder in 2009, we passed legislation to fix one portion of the Choose Life License plate program.  If it had not been fixed, pregnancy centers would not have been able to receive funds from the plate.
9. No Pro-Abortion Legislation Passed: Not only are we able to pass legislation, but we are able to hold the line against pro-abortion legislation.  No piece of legislation advocating or promoting abortion passed the state legislature in 2010!
10. Benefit of Ultrasounds Shared Nationwide: While we were hard at work passing the Ultrasound Before Abortion Act, nationally syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker promoted the value of ultrasound legislation through her Washington Post article.  Read the article here.  We hope through this article many other states will further the protection of life through ultrasound legislation.