Proposed Louisiana abortion law would charge women with homicide
A state legislative committee in Louisiana has advanced a bill that would criminalise abortion as homicide, in which the pregnant person or people who assist with their abortion could be charged.
The bill, proposed by Republican state Rep Danny McCormick, advanced from the state’s House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 7-2 on 4 May, despite at least one legislator who supported the bill stressing that it is likely unconstitutional.
House Bill 813 now heads to the state House of Representatives for a full vote.
The bill’s introduction follows a leaked opinion from the US Supreme Court’s conservative majority that appears willing to revoke constitutional protections for abortion care affirmed by the rulings in Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey, ending healthcare protections for millions of Americans.
Abortion remains legal in all states, though Republican legislators across the US have introduced dozens of anti-abortion measures in 2022 to restrict access or eliminate it entirely, with several states targeting abortion providers with felonies, though such legislation has exempted people seeking abortions.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana said the state legislative proposal is “blatantly unconstitutional.”
During the hearing on Wednesday, legislators were warned that the bill would also criminalise in vitro fertilizations and some forms of birth control.
Earlier on Wednesday, the state’s Republican attorney general Jeff Landry said women seeking abortion in the state should “pack your bags and move to California.”
Louisiana’s Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, the only anti-abortion Democratic governor in the US, has not publicly respond to the Supreme Court’s leaked opinion.
A spokesperson for the governor told The Independent that his “pro-life position has been clear and consistent since he was first elected to the Louisiana Legislature in 2008” but “he’s not going to issue a statement about a draft decision that has not been formally issued” and he does not typically comment about bills that not yet reached his desk.
This is a developing story
