HB 425, the Love Life Amendment to the Louisiana Constitution, is halfway through the legislative process as it makes its way to the October ballot.
The bill, authored by Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe), received the necessary 2/3 vote in the House of Representatives last Tuesday and is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday, May 7, in the Senate Judiciary A.
The House voted 81-10 to approve the bill. To close debate on the bill, Jackson brought up co-author legislators to the podium. The bill ended up with 76 co-authors in the House.
The Love Life Amendment must receive 2/3 vote of both the House and the Senate to be put on the ballot in October. There, Louisiana’s registered voters will have the chance to ensure that there is no right to abortion or to taxpayer funding of abortion in Louisiana’s constitution.
“The Supreme Courts of 13 other states (as recently as this month in Kansas) have found a right to abortion in their state constitutions, striking down common-sense pro-life laws in the short term and ensuring abortion-on-demand in their states even if Roe v. Wade is overturned,” said Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life. “We cannot let that happen in Louisiana. By passing the Love Life Amendment we can place our pro-life values of respecting every human life at the heart of our state.”
Louisiana Right to Life is monitoring several other bills closely during this legislative session, which ends June 6, including SB 221, authored by Sen. Beth Mizell (R-Franklinton), which was unanimously approved in the Senate last Tuesday.
SB 221, if approved in the House and signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards, would strengthen Louisiana’s “Woman’s Right to Know” law by providing further information to women prior to an abortion about the abortion physician and their disciplinary history. This legislation came about after Dr. Kevin Work, a physician performing abortions in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, was suspended from practicing medicine in Louisiana after it was reported he was violating his agreement with the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.
“Dr. Work’s troubled history was unknown to many Louisianians, and we imagine to his patients as well,” Clapper said. “In most other surgical practices, their websites voluntarily include plenty of information about the physician who will perform the surgery, allowing a patient to be fully informed in advance. Unfortunately, that is not the case with abortion. It is extremely difficult for a woman considering abortion to learn anything in advance about the qualifications and history of the physician who will be performing the abortion.
“SB 221 requires full disclosure of a physician’s medical education and recent disciplinary history. Especially when it cannot be found easily, women choosing abortion should have as much information as possible prior to their abortion about the person performing their abortion,” he said.
To learn more about what other bills Louisiana Right to Life is monitoring, and to learn where the organization stands on the bills, visit www.prolifelouisiana.org/session.
