Ben Clapper (00:14)
Hey everybody, Ben Clapper here with Louisiana Right to Life and I’m joined by…
Erica Inzina (00:19)
Erica Inzina, Policy Director at Louisiana Right to Life. ⁓
Ben Clapper (00:22)
And the legislative session for 2025 is in the past. Signing done. The legislature is done for the year and they’re headed back home. Yeah, it was fast. I mean, just two months long started in April, a fiscal session and bam, two months, which seems like a long time, but still is fast.
Erica Inzina (00:32)
My goodness, and what a session it was.
But fast does not mean boring or, you know, without lots to do. That’s right. Very, very busy this session.
Ben Clapper (00:52)
Absolutely, and for those of you don’t know Louisiana Right to Life every year really since the 70s has been engaged in the legislative process working to defend life help moms and promote adoption and so it’s been such an important part of our mission and our work and and sometimes people ask me: What do we do at the Capitol?
You know, I mean maybe we should start but what what do we do and what does Louisiana Right to Life do at the Capitol not in the big picture yet pass some laws here and there but on the day-to-day basis what is it that we do, Erica?
Erica Inzina (01:24)
You know, one of the things that I think we do the most is to educate the legislators and the people they work with on the issues because they have so many issues that they have to be very knowledgeable about. And, you we know our issue very well. We know a whole lot about the ins and outs and the problems and ways that we think that the problems can be resolved, but they don’t know it that well. And so that’s one of the things that I think that we do, having those conversations, lots of conversations explaining how things are really happening and what kind of problems they’re creating.
Ben Clapper (02:00)
Absolutely, and you know it starts even before the session because we are helping drafting laws We’re helping work with legislators on concepts some of them come to fruition some of them are What on the drawing room floor or the cutting room floor? That’s common and then it once we’re there at the Capitol I mean we may be writing amendments amendments that never see the light of day I mean we may be like you said having a lot of conversations testifying in committee ⁓ You know figuring out who’s voting with us who’s not voting with us ⁓ on so many little different things.
Erica Inzina (02:35)
I think that was one of the things that I didn’t expect coming into this role was how much work you would put into say an amendment or to a piece of legislation that may never be relevant at all because it didn’t come too.
Ben Clapper (02:48)
That’s right. I mean, probably, what would you say, a third of what we do never, never sees the light of day.
Erica Inzina (02:57)
And not because there’s not interest in it, just because the process goes in a different direction. And so I think it’s kind of like plan A through double Z.
Ben Clapper (03:07)
Yeah, and, you know, I think on the big picture idea is that the pro-life movement has to be at state capitals across America, right? I mean the abortion industry wants to expand abortion across America and the culture of death really in general is looking to expand and We’ve got to be there if we’re not there if good men and women aren’t there standing for life to protect babies then The culture of death is going to expand and grow.
So it’s that idea that we’re somewhat the watchmen and watch women on the wall. Standing strong for life and if we’re there we you know something may happen. That’s not good for life it still may happen, but it would definitely happen if we’re not there
Erica Inzina (03:53)
I agree with that and I’ve heard many legislators say, particularly about your role there in the past, that they really rely on Louisiana Right to Life to inform them on the issues because they, like I said, they just don’t know the depth of the issues like we do. They have so many things that they are concerned with and have to be at least minimally knowledgeable about. So I think it’s, to your point, very important for the pro-life movement to be present.
Ben Clapper (04:23)
And I just want to say to all of our supporters of Louisiana Right to Life, thank you so much for your support because I mean, our supporters enable us to be there, you know, not only the time, but all the logistical costs that come into it, the advocacy time, all the equipment or tools or programs that we use. And so we just know that our supporters are in a sense there with us. That sounds kind of cheesy, right? But I mean, still, the people who are supporting us are there in spirit with us.
Erica Inzina (04:53)
You know, Ben, I think
about it this way. You know, I think that our representatives are there to represent the people of their districts and of the state, and we’re there to represent the pro-life movement. So, ⁓ you know, we’re obviously not legislators, but we are there to speak for the pro-life movement. And if we weren’t there, like you said, it wouldn’t be spoken.
Ben Clapper (05:13)
Absolutely. All right. Well, let’s get into what happened during the session. So the first topic and this is, a battle we’ve been involved in for now the past couple years, really for a long time, which are abortion pills. Yes. And so maybe Erica, take us back to what came out. I know we talk about it a lot on our different content, but people may not see it. What happened in West Baton Rouge Parish and then how that led us into really two of our main bills that passed this session.
Erica Inzina (05:48)
So if you don’t know, a very tragic story came out of West Baton Rouge Parish just before the legislative session started in which a young girl, a young teenager was forced by her mother to abort her child through abortion pills that the mother obtained online. We’ve been sounding the alarm on these abortion pills for years talking about the dangers of the availability of them and then the physical dangers to women and obviously the intended danger to the unborn child. ⁓ And unfortunately, the state saw that this is a real issue through the West Baton Rouge situation. So the district attorney of West Baton Rouge, Tony Clayton, prosecuted the mom and the doctor from New York who was involved in getting the pills to the mom so that she could use them for this crime of coercing her daughter to have an abortion. That girl ended up in the emergency room with complications and is both, physically scarred and certainly emotionally scarred for life because of this. Like you mentioned that happened right as the legislative session was getting ready to get started. And I like to remind people that situation, though it coincided with the beginning of the legislative session, it is not the only situation that we know of.
It is our best example that most people are aware of, but we hear about this happening all the time. People getting abortion pills very easily and then causing harm, being used to coerce them into having an abortion, and it’s a really tragic situation. So what we’ve learned through that process, through the West Baton Rouge process, is that we have great criminal protections in Louisiana, criminal penalties for that type of activity.
The opposition is very clever and they have erected very interesting ways to get around being held accountable for that. And so that brought into to light some weaknesses, I guess you would say with our law. And again, I think that these are things that we knew needed to be dealt with. But the West Baton Rouge situation really cemented that this now is the time. We can’t just keep theoretically talking about what could be done this has to be done now and so we had a lot of great support with Attorney General, Murrill and District Attorney, Tony Clayton ⁓ several other people who helped out and that brought to light two bills HB 575 and HB 425. HB 575 by representatives Ventrella and Emerson and then HB 425 by representative Josh Carlson out of Lafayette.
Ben Clapper (08:36)
Representative Julie Emerson who’s also the chair of the Ways and Means Committee has been a strong advocate for life now for a number of years at the state capitol. Hard to believe in a couple years. She’ll be turned out, you know of which will be sad. But she’s from the Lafayette area strong advocate and then state representative Lauren Ventrell, who’s in her first term but from the Greenwell Springs area outside Baton Rouge, also advocating for that bill.
Erica Inzina (09:05)
They’re fierce advocates and we’re so grateful to them for bringing this issue to the legislature.
Ben Clapper (09:10)
And I think they recognized that the harm that was being done to women and coming from a woman’s perspective You know, they felt this was important to take action. HB 575 we called it the justice for victims.
Erica Inzina (09:28)
Yes, it’s the Justice for Victims of Abortion Drug Dealers Act.
Ben Clapper (09:32)
And I think just to stop there, people are like, that’s kind of a sensational title, but these are abortion drug dealers. I mean, what do you call someone who is shipping ⁓ drugs around the country for money, basically? I for no safety precautions, nothing else. So they are abortion drug dealers and there are victims like these women. And I just have to stop and say real quick that we’ve seen in the news even more recently here as sessions ended about this awful, terrible story out of Texas, where this woman was. Her drink was spiked with an abortion pill and sadly, she lost her baby the abortion that her boyfriend did to her, killed the child, killed the baby and Now he’s being prosecuted in Texas. This is like the Senator Presley story from last year, but that thankfully she didn’t lose the child. This one is especially tragic because she lost a baby. So just another example of the victims, women who are victims of the reckless spread of abortion pills in our country.
Erica Inzina (10:43)
And like we said, you know, this is a shocking outcome and it is a disturbing thing that can happen, but it’s not at all surprising. I mean, that’s what happens when you can obtain abortion pills that easily. As parents, as women, as just citizens of this great state, we should all be very concerned about how these these pills are so easily available and can be used to cause harm in general, but also can be used to force harm upon women. So HB 575, it expands upon a cause of action that’s already part of Louisiana law in which a woman can hold an abortion provider accountable. But it takes into account that most abortions today, even though, you know, abortion is, prohibited in Louisiana, elective abortion is, we know that they’re still happening.
60 % of abortions or more across the country are happening by abortion pills, which again are so easily available online. So this gives women, it extends that cause of action to the harm caused by abortion pills. It extends the amount of time that they have to bring a lawsuit to five years, which is an increase from three years, which is part of the current law.
Ben Clapper (12:04)
This insures just basic things, you know, she’s the person that brings the lawsuit, right? Yeah. So there’s people who are concerned about the woman’s medical records in this situation. But, she’s making the voluntary decision to bring the suit herself, right? And she can bring that lawsuit and she can file a suit against somebody who may be in New York or maybe in California or wherever they are.
Erica Inzina (12:31)
Even in Louisiana, if that’s where the drug dealer is.
Ben Clapper (12:35)
Because they’re doing business in this state. People say, well, we can’t control what happens in another state. But they’re doing business in this state. I mean, when something is being sold online or even in person, obviously, then that’s business that’s being done in this state. And so that person should be held accountable for the destruction that they cause through their actions.
Erica Inzina (12:55)
Absolutely, and we feel like this law is going to be really helpful for women and empower them to seek justice when that is something that they are indeed seeking. And another thing to your point is that the law does give women the option to pursue this by pseudonym. That’s important. Or by their initials. And so that their court records and all of their information can remain private.
Ben Clapper (13:20)
So I mean this, you we can imagine the difficulty a woman would have in wanting to bring this forward. I mean, it would be difficult, no doubt. And this though, we have the precautions in the bill or the protections that allows her to do that, and it allows her to be hopefully more successful in bringing that lawsuit and holding these people accountable.
Erica Inzina (13:43)
Yeah, I agree.
Ben Clapper (13:44)
So this is an important bill, I mean a really important bill. It gives power back to these women who’ve been, their power’s been taken away from them. Whether they were coerced or whether they just didn’t know all the facts. Or they weren’t even given information on what to do if they have a medical complication.
Erica Inzina (13:55)
They were lied to or when they were told, not go to the emergency room and if you do, do not tell them that you’ve taken abortion pills. It’s just such a stunning and disturbing practice, the way that has happened.
Ben Clapper (14:13)
Anything else on that bill that public should know or maybe they’re hearing misconceptions out there about it that they may not know?
Erica Inzina (14:20)
In its original form, the bill did include the cause of action. It provided the cause of action or the right of action to fathers and to the other family members, particularly the grandparents of the unborn child. And we still maintain that those people are very much harmed by the loss of the child and then the effect on the family. You know, I keep thinking about the mom in West Baton Rouge. Certainly she did something awful to her daughter, but in a sense, she’s a bit of a victim of the recklessness of this availability herself.
She was very likely told that this was safe, that it was an easy solution, that it was her right, that it was all of these things. And she too was lied to. And now their family is forever changed, forever harmed by the actions of these doctors who don’t care, are very happy to take the money and then throw their hands up and say sorry you can’t hold us accountable because we’re out of state.
Ben Clapper (15:26)
I think one other misconception, and this is what some senators who are for abortion on the Senate floor talked about how this is going, if someone just posts on social media or ⁓ mentions to someone else about abortion, that somehow they can be sued. And that’s not the case. This is not violating First Amendment rights or anything like that.
Erica Inzina (15:46)
Correct.
It very specifically defines what actions ⁓ give rise to liability. simply posting or promoting does not give rise to liability. now that doesn’t mean that they can’t be held accountable another way. Maybe they should, maybe they shouldn’t be, but not under this law.
Ben Clapper (16:05)
You know,
I think all of this with abortion pills, just to throw it out there, we really need the federal government to step up and to take action because we see what’s happened in Texas with that woman. This is an issue where Health and Human Services, ⁓ RFK, President Trump, all of Congress needs to take decisive action because we’re going to keep chipping away here as best we can.
Erica Inzina (16:29)
Doing everything we can we’ve got everybody on board all hands on deck but you know we are limited when until the federal government gets involved there will be only so much that we can do as a state
Ben Clapper (16:42)
Okay, on to the next bill, the Stop Coerced Abortion Act, which still is somewhat, we were already working on maybe, I can’t remember that well, but it connects to that situation that happened in West Benarooch. Tell me about that bill by Representative Josh Carlson.
Erica Inzina (16:57)
Yeah, so currently in Louisiana law, is a crime to coerce a woman to have an abortion. But the way that the law, before this bill by Representative Carlson was passed, the way that the law read was that the person, what it meant to coerce a person to have an abortion was to threaten them with physical violence against their person. So you required physical violence and against the body of the woman. So that did not encompass a lot of what we know amounts to coercion. For example in the West Baton Rouge situation, we don’t know all of the facts.
We do know that under the law, unless the young woman was physically threatened with harm to her body, that does not amount to coercion. And so this bill expands what it means to coerce someone, including ⁓ not just physical battery, but also assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and extortion.
Ben Clapper (17:57)
Important bill and passed the legislature really I mean with flying colors because the bill was tightened up and an important bill that’s gonna move forward.
It’s like you see what happens with this situation in Texas and you see what happens at West Baton Rouge Parish and I just think for every media story that gets big there’s so many other stories that no one ever hears about that are happening for real and we’ve heard other ones like we’ve mentioned earlier you know some sad situations of a boyfriend forcing a girlfriend to and locking a person in their bathroom until they took the pill and that’s the type of action that wasn’t covered under past law. Current law, and now will be under this new law that’s been passed.
Okay, so that’s an important one that moved through the process. Now our third bill, kind of one of our main bills, unfortunately didn’t make it through the process. So I guess if we had to point out kind of a downer of the session, it didn’t make it through the process. So this one was House Bill the number of 478. We called it the Signs of Hope Act. So I want to talk about this. It’s a great bill and it’s going to come back.
It didn’t pass, not because of lack of people wanting it to pass but more because of the funds that would have been required through the state to pass it. We call this the signs of Hope Act because hopefully there was going to be a sign like this that would have been placed, through this law, in a health clinics in public schools. Public high schools and public colleges that just says pregnant? help is available for you and your baby and then the state’s website with pregnancy help resources.
That would tell them about LA moms, medicaid options, the resources that are out there, other places that can provide diapers and other supplies, and if you’re pregnant in high school or college, here are the resources that can help the woman out. This was authored by state representative Dodie Horton out of the Bossier Parish area, a great champion for life. so again, the appropriations process just kind of it got lost in the process and it needed state funding to be allocated and it just didn’t work this year.
Erica Inzina (20:15)
That state funds right now are not readily available.
Ben Clapper (20:19)
That’s right. Yeah. So we’re optimistic that we’re going to bring it back.
Erica Inzina (20:24)
And I love this so much and this concept so much because I often think, you know, like for example, I just got my Choose Life license plate and I often think, like, gosh, what if someone is just driving down the road and it’s just looking for a sign. Just looking for a sign is in that moment where they don’t know what to do and the only thing they ever see that suggests to them that they can do this is that license plate. And for all of the other reasons, I’m very proud to have it. And I think this sign or a sign of this sort could be that life-saving sign, just that one sign that someone’s looking for that you can do this. And there are resources available and here they are.
Ben Clapper (21:05)
So that didn’t pass. It’s definitely coming back. Well, state funds may not have worked in terms of that bill, but they did for the pregnancy help centers in the state. the state re-upped the money that it dedicated to pregnancy help centers to four million state dollars to go to pregnancy help centers in the state’s executive budget. And so that goes through the Department of Children and Family Services and pregnancy centers in the state, to something around 30 pregnancy centers.
This allows some of those centers to get state funding to then help them do amazing things to care for mothers before birth and after birth. Some of the centers up to the baby’s fourth birthday. Providing just amazing services, great boots on the ground and local community help.
Erica Inzina (21:53)
That’s exactly how I describe it. I know that as an organization we do so much. We do a lot of advocacy and we do a lot of that kind of work too. But they are really truly the boots on the ground meeting those women where they are, giving them the resources, giving them the hope that they need, helping them figure it out. And we just hear so often from people who’ve been helped by pregnancy centers and it’s always just a wonderful thing to hear. So I think that’s great use of state funds.
Ben Clapper (22:21)
Absolutely, so and we are proud to you know work with pregnancy centers and try to help and also to help be their voice at the state capital. Many of them are do an amazing job advocating for themselves at the Capitol and we have great partners across the state through the pregnancy center coalition, but we’re just happy to work with them and help you know magnify the impact of pregnancy centers
Erica Inzina (22:46)
Absolutely.
Ben Clapper (22:47)
Okay a couple other good things that happened this session that we’re just going to touch on. First a bill by state representative Dustin Miller is it allows or requires now that Medicaid fund doula services in the state. Medicaid can reimburse for doula services in the state.
Erica Inzina (23:06)
And we’re finding, or we hear often about the importance of having a doula, especially for certain communities where there may not be as much access to.
Ben Clapper (23:18)
Definitely, these ⁓ maternal deserts or healthcare deserts.
Erica Inzina (23:22)
And doulas are so wonderful because you have the doctors who are there in their capacity, but the doulas are really walking alongside the mom and speaking for her and speaking with her and advocating for her. So I think that’s a wonderful addition to our state law. And I think that it will be really helpful in addressing the maternal and infant mortality situation. So that’s very good positive.
Ben Clapper (23:50)
The other one in a similar vein is representative Mike Bayham is from the Chalmette area and he passed a bill that requires that private insurance fund what’s called home visiting services. These are when nurses or trained professionals are visiting families with newborn babies or young children to check up on the medical progress and the health progress of the child and the mother following birth. So this again is going out that those infant and maternal mortality rates that Louisiana has difficulty with and so this by requiring it under private insurance is going to allow that to be more accessible to more people in the state so we think that’s a great success.
Erica Inzina (24:34)
And hopefully catching any signs of distress or any signs of issue problems early on so that they can be addressed before it becomes a bigger problem.
Ben Clapper (24:45)
Yeah, so that’s great. Louisiana making progress on that as well. One other smaller thing that happened is a resolution was passed by State Representative Barrel Amadee from the Houma-Thibodaux area, the Bayou area, and that encourages the Department of Health of Louisiana to look into restorative reproductive health practices.
Erica Inzina (25:07)
I think that’s so important. ⁓ You know, we hear all the time about the rampant infertility and so many of us know friends and family members who have struggled in trying to build their families. And I think that’s a great way to start looking at why is this such a problem? You know, this is a biological process. Why is it such an issue? Why is it such a challenge for some families to have families? So I think that’ll be a great.
Ben Clapper (25:34)
Yeah, and you know, restorative medical practice are trying to look at the the medical reasons the physiological reasons why and trying to address that with holistic solutions and I know I have been fortunate to know people who have been through processes like that and they have been helped tremendously and there are children in this world now because of those great processes. So that’s an important one. We hope that’s the Department of Health will study that. We’ll look at it.
I hope it leads to more community knowledge about these processes that can be restorative in a holistic manner. Okay, so anything else on our list that we did from the session?
Erica Inzina (26:18)
Well, the elephant in the room is always the exception. Yeah, and so as promised, the exceptions for certain sex crimes, rape and incest, how we colloquially would refer to it, legally it’s referred to something different, but that came back again, brought by Representative Boyd, and that’s always a hard one. That’s always really hard, but at the end of the day, a child conceived in any manner is just as valuable and important and Deserving a protection as a child conceived in any other manner and you know, we so many of us are the result of that type of situation. I know so many people who are here today because a mother in that situation chose life. And we’re so very grateful that those people are here with us. And we were grateful, as always, have Dustin Bertrand come to the Capitol to talk about ⁓ being the product of a sexual assault and the bravery of his mom in choosing life. It’s so wonderful to see how he, as he has recognized that, he has used that to drive him to speak for those very, very vulnerable children in that situation. you know, I hate to say that we’re happy because it’s a horrible situation no matter what, but ⁓ we were able to, and the legislators were able to stand strong and defend life regardless of the means of conception.
Ben Clapper (27:55)
And you know I think Dustin states that his mom was violated, right? I mean what happened to her was absolutely wrong and what happens to any woman, any young girl who is harmed like that.
Erica Inzina (28:09)
And nobody is contesting that. We all agree with that.
Ben Clapper (28:12)
And you know, they need to see justice. They need to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. And we’re definitely not arguing with that. And to those people who came and testified and shared their story, I mean, our heart goes out to them. I know what happened to them is wrong. You know, we always will continue to stand for the life of the child, no matter how they got there. Now one legislator who’s on the criminal justice committee in the house who shared her story who it’s just amazing that she’s on this committee and she is willing to share a story as a state representative Pat Moore from the Monroe area and she shares and correct me if i get the facts wrong but she shared how her mother was a was conceived.
Erica Inzina (29:05)
She was conceived. Her mother was the victim of a rape. I believe at age 14 is when Representative Moore was born, when her mother was 14. Maybe the assault happened while she was even 13. A horrible situation, undoubtedly. But gosh, what a powerful story. And you could just feel the… emotion and the passion that she has for protecting people just like her who otherwise would not be here if this were such an available option.
Ben Clapper (29:46)
And you know she wrestles with this and she said that in the committee she wrestles with this issue you know she knows that what’s happening to women and girls is wrong she just said you know I can’t overlook the fact that this is how I’m here and while it was wrong what happened to her her life still has value and same with Dustin and others.
Erica Inzina (30:07)
I think we all we all do it is a horrible thing to have to confront. And to have to defend against but yes, you know, when we go back to the basics, why are we here? We are here to protect the dignity and the value of every life from the moment of conception regardless of how Conceived or regardless of what society might say that person’s value is and you know I mean if we go back to that the answer is clear. We’re trying to solve a very bad problem with the wrong solution I think when we try to make ⁓ exceptions for that situation available.
Ben Clapper (30:43)
And look, we’re going to stand for that whether it’s popular or not. Some people said, well, the poll book, public poll, yeah, this is a tough issue, right? Absolutely. It’s really hard. But that life has purpose. I look in Dustin’s eyes and I say, you have value and I’m going to fight for children like you. Now, I want to say that state representative Tony Bacala also serves on that criminal justice committee. He’s from the Ascension Parish, Prairieville area. And I mean, he’s a strong pro-life of legislative, 100% spoke up during that committee. He just applauded Pat Moore and talked about how great she was. He just did a great job making his voice be heard. It’s easy in that issue to kind of hide, you know, and just make your vote and leave quick. But he kind of put himself into the fray, spoke clearly, great moral principles into that. So we really appreciate Representative Bacala for speaking.
Erica Inzina (31:37)
He brought logic to the issue.
Ben Clapper (31:40)
An emotional issue, that’s right.
Okay, so yeah, that was a tough issue, but again one that we’re happy that we stood for life even if it’s a difficult situation, right?
Yes. Okay well the other thing we want to cover is the heroes of the legislative set. Those legislators who partnered with us and just went above and beyond the call of duty and you know I mean for these legislators really this isn’t politics this they care deeply about protecting life and helping mom so right off the start let’s talk House Bill 575.
Erica Inzina (31:55)
Some major heroes to recognize.
Yes,
Representatives Julie Emerson and Lauren Ventrella, who stood fiercely in the face of some really serious and in some moments, some ugly opposition from some of their colleagues even. But they knew it was an important issue and they stood very strongly for the women and the babies who are harmed by abortion pills. So we’re so grateful and so proud of them for not wavering. It would have been a lot easier for them to just say, you know what, I’m out. This year and they had plenty of other things they could have worked on.
Ben Clapper (32:45)
Emerson as the chair of ways and means has a lot of big weighty heavy financial things to do for the whole state and So she and tax things so she and she worked a lot behind the scenes to get the bill passed. Yeah, she did a great job Yeah, so and then when a bill, know for those who don’t know a house bill when it starts on the house side and it goes to the Senate side there has to be a senator that carries that bill on the Senate floor because a rep can’t argue on the Senate floor and vice versa the same thing so when that bill came over too.
Erica Inzina (32:59)
I’m really proud of you all.
Ben Clapper (33:15)
The Senate side was State Senator Rick Edmonds from Baton Rouge who stood up and made the case. I know sometimes it’s hard to know all the details about a bill that’s on the other side of the chamber. And he did a great job against attacks and making the case and standing strong.
Erica Inzina (33:33)
Yeah, absolutely. We’re always so proud of him and he’s so knowledgeable about what we do in general. He’s long been a hero.
Ben Clapper (33:41)
And said this on the senate floor after some attacks he was closing he said he said, “I will always fight for life”
Erica Inzina (33:52)
Because the opposition was saying when is enough enough? Why are we talking about this every year? When is enough enough? When are we gonna stop talking about this? And he said very firmly and emphatically that if we don’t stand in the gap, who will? If we don’t stand in the gap now, who will? If we don’t come back next year and stand in the gap, who will? And gosh, that just gives me chills to think about. So I appreciate that so much.
Ben Clapper (34:20)
And then with House Bill 425, that was Representative Josh Carlson who took that bill on and he led that bill through the process. And not just that bill, but Josh helped in a lot of ways during the session. many different issues, small, big issues, and was a great advocate. And you also thinking about what legislators say, what did he say?
Erica Inzina (34:41)
That’s what he said in committee. He was getting some what I would consider some illogical objection from one of the committee members and you know I guess the gist of what she was saying is, kind of similar to what Senator Edmonds’ statement was like, when is enough enough? Why are we still talking about this? And he said, also very emphatically and passionately, I will always, and he said it so much better than I’ll restate it, but he said something like, “I’ll always look for an opportunity to protect, or take any opportunity to protect the most vulnerable.” And gosh, that was just such a powerful moment. I appreciated it so much then. I think about it all the time. I was really proud of him for saying that.
Ben Clapper (35:24)
And then when his bill came over to the Senate of the senator Brock Myers that the bill and carried it on the Senate floor, so thanks to him as well. Okay while representative Horton’s bill didn’t pass she still took it on fought for it and advocated for it. So we’re grateful to stay representative Dodie Horton for her action We’re thankful to state representative Jack McFarland the chair of appropriations and for helping with the state funding for pregnancy health help centers and that also goes to Senator Womack on the Senate side on the finance side and Senate President Cameron Henry. So it’s both of them and then you know I definitely or we said earlier state representative Pat Moore and state representative Tony Bacala we’ve shared about them their voice being strong in committee was ⁓ you know was really important.
Erica Inzina (36:04)
Yes, the other committee members who raised really important questions whether it was on a bill that we were supporting or a bill that we were opposing you know engaging in that conversation because like you said earlier you know it would be a lot easier for them just to make their vote and you know not ruffle any feathers but so many of them were very strong in carrying forward the conversation.
Ben Clapper (36:37)
I think that includes chairwoman Debbie Villio who’s always been a strong advocate as the chair of the Criminal Justice Committee on the House side. So those are some of our champions for the year. So thank you to all those legislators and there’s so many other ones and so probably it’s kind of dangerous to start naming them like we did but they all these ones did such a good job. Representative Amadee authored that amendment that we talked about a restorative medicine.
So and then of course these bills that passed are going to be heading to Governor Landry’s desk and ⁓ we are confident he will sign those of course being a pro-life advocate himself so we’re grateful and then AG Liz Murrill-
Erica Inzina (37:18)
I forgot to say, forgot to recognize Attorney General Liz Murrill who came to testify not once but twice on the importance of HB 575 and how, you know, what she sees in her line of work and, you know, worked really tirelessly to advocate for it and to give feedback on how to make sure it was in a good position to go forward.
Ben Clapper (37:41)
And you know one other thing that happened during session is we had pro-life day at the Capitol. Yeah, and that was a great event. We had a bunch of pregnancy centers set up their booths and the rotunda. Pro-Life people were recognized thanks to Secretary Matlock and the Department of Children and Family Services for hosting our pregnancy centers and advocates for lunch. So great pro-life day at the Capitol and then one other thing is right at the end of session our Pulse Leadership Institute. Well, this is kind of not really a capital thing but we bring the high school students and college students who are with our Pulse Leadership Institute to the state capitol and it was on a day when it just so happened that the legislature wasn’t meeting. It was like kind of a ghost town but we were fortunate that state senator Regina Ashford Barrow was at the capitol and she met with our students and she’s a great pro-life democrat in the legislature and she showed our students around.
Erica Inzina (38:33)
And they were so excited to meet her too. I heard great things.
Ben Clapper (38:37)
Very good. Well, Ithink that’s a wrap. That’s the session. Again, just what we said at the start, how grateful we are for our supporters, those volunteers, everyone who contacted their legislator to ask them to vote for pro-life bill. And just to remember to everybody, these legislators aren’t going to stay pro-life themselves. Pro-life citizens in this state need to be reaching out to their legislators on a regular basis.
Erica Inzina (39:01)
100%.
They say that often. That’s how they know what their people want.
Erica Inzina (39:11)
Like Senator
Edmunds said, if we don’t speak up now, if we don’t stand in the gap, who will?
Ben Clapper (39:16)
Well, thanks, everybody. Thanks, Erica, for your hard work during the session. And thanks, everybody. And ⁓ Louisiana Right to Life will always be at the Capitol. And please get in contact with us if you want to be a part of our pro-life movement year round. Thank you.
