Press Release
BATON ROUGE – Today, State Rep. Katrina Jackson (D-Monroe) filed HB 425, the Love Life Constitutional Amendment to the Louisiana Constitution. The Love Life Amendment would ensure that no right to abortion or the taxpayer funding of abortion can be found in the Louisiana Constitution. The resolution must be passed by a two-thirds margin of both the Louisiana House of Representatives and Louisiana Senate. If approved by the Legislature, the constitutional amendment would be placed on the Nov. 16, 2019 ballot and would need approval of a simple majority of voters to pass. The text of the amendment can be found at the Legislature’s website at this link.
Rep. Jackson, the primary author of the Love Life Amendment, said, “I am excited to announce that I have submitted HB 425, the Love Life Amendment, to my fellow state legislators. This amendment makes sure there is no right to abortion or taxpayer funding of abortion in our state constitution. By passing this we can rest assured that, together with our state law, we will never become like New York, which recently legalized abortion up to the very moment before birth. The citizens of our state love life, and it’s time we place this love at the heart of our state. I look forward to giving the citizens of our state the opportunity to vote to protect life.”
State Sen. Beth Mizell (R-Franklinton), co-author and Senate leader of the amendment, said, “The abortion industry has succeeded in having 12 state supreme courts find a right to abortion in their state constitutions, requiring abortion-on-demand to continue even if Roe v. Wade is reversed. We must act now to make sure this can’t happen in Louisiana. The Love Life Amendment will ensure that our state courts cannot find a right to abortion or the funding of abortion in our state constitution.”
Benjamin Clapper, Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life, said, “Our polling data shows that 70 percent of Louisianians self-identify as pro-life. It’s time our citizens placed our pro-life principles at the heart of our state by passing the Love Life Amendment. Our new Louisiana Pro-Life Amendment Coalition will be leading the effort to pass this amendment, and we look forward to visiting with voters across Louisiana to gain their support for the amendment.”
Dorinda Bordlee, Chief Counsel of the Bioethics Defense Fund, said, “The Supreme Courts of 12 other states have invalidated common-sense pro-life laws by ‘discovering’ a right to abortion in their state constitutions. The Love Life Amendment keeps the decision about Louisiana law and the protection of unborn children in the democratic process rather than in the hands of activist judges. It also ensures that our ‘trigger’ law protecting all unborn babies if Roe v. Wade is overturned won’t be gutted by a future state constitutional challenge.”
The Love Life Amendment will be supported by a new coalition known as the “Louisiana Pro-Life Amendment Coalition” led by Louisiana Right to Life, and its campaign will be known as “Love Life Vote Yes.” The Love Life Vote Yes website, which should be published soon, will be www.LoveLifeVoteYes.com.