Pro-Life Day at the Capitol took place today at the Louisiana Capitol, complete with a pro-life “Cemetery of the Innocent” display in the Capitol Front Lawn representing the number of abortions that occur everyday in America, meeting of 50+ pro-life leaders in the Attorney General’s Office, pregnancy centers set-up with tables in the Rotunda, and birthday cake in the House Rotunda. Pro-Life Day at the Capitol also brought about the successful passage of two pro-life pieces of legislation.
HB 425, the Love Life Amendment to the Louisiana Constitution, passed the Louisiana House of Representatives by a 80-10 margin this afternoon, clearing the 2/3 margin needed to move on to the Senate. Rep. Katrina Jackson brought co-author legislators to the podium with her to as she closed on the bill. The bill ended up with 76 co-authors in the House.
If passed through the Legislature by a ⅔ margin and then a vote of the people, the Love Life Amendment, Louisiana Right to Life’s 2019 flagship legislation, would ensure that there is no right to abortion or the taxpayer funding of abortion in Louisiana’s Constitution.
“The Supreme Courts of 12 other states (as recently as 2018 in Iowa) 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.”
On the Senate side, SB 221, authored by Sen. Beth Mizell, cleared the Louisiana Senate by a 38-0 margin. SB 221 strengthens 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.
