Louisiana lawmakers torpedoed legislation Thursday that would classify abortion as murder, rejecting by a majority a far-reaching proposal that included prosecutors’ ability to prosecute women who terminate their pregnancies.
The measure was one of the most aggressive new restrictions on reproductive rights that conservative US lawmakers across the country have considered, as the Supreme Court appears ready to overturn the constitutional right to abortion.
But in the end, lawmakers backed what has long been a frontier for many in the anti-abortion movement who resist seeking criminal punishment for women who have abortions. The bill fell before a final vote was held on Thursday after an amendment that essentially dismantled it was widely approved by the House of Representatives.
Louisiana is a deeply conservative state where elected officials – including the Democratic governor – have backed even the toughest restrictions on access to abortion. However, the proposal failed, with some of the state’s most influential anti-abortion groups in opposition, criticizing the law as a misguided effort with a number of dangerous consequences, including potentially limiting treatment for women who have miscarriages.
“Laws in favor of life are flying off this floor with little or no opposition and have been doing so for decades,” said Alan Seabo, the Republican representative behind the amendment, during a debate over legislation that has become tense and personal. He and another critic accused the sponsor of the bill, Danny McCormick, of failing to understand the content of the bill and the consequences it could have.
“This bill will not prevent any abortion – not one,” Mr Sibo said, adding that if the bill, as written, was passed, “it will be passed the next day because Rowe v. Wade it is still the law of the earth. “
“This is not the law!” shouted supporters of the bill, sitting in the gallery.
“Liar!” Some of them shouted.
From Opinion: Rowe v. Wade Challenge
Commentary by opinion authors and Times columnists on the forthcoming Supreme Court ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.
After the amendment was passed, Mr McCormick, a Republican, called for the bill to be removed from the House of Representatives calendar, preventing a final vote.
The bill was passed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives after it was passed by a committee last week with 7-2 votes. It gained momentum after an expired draft opinion from the Supreme Court showed that a majority of judges supported the repeal of Rowe v. Wade, the remarkable 1973 ruling establishing the constitutional right to abortion.
Louisiana is one of about a dozen states with so-called trigger laws that would quickly make abortion illegal if Rowe and Wade were repealed. But supporters of the new proposal argue that the trigger law does not go far enough and have pushed for a bill defining personality as starting from the moment of fertilization.
“We want equal protection for all people and we believe that life begins at conception,” said Jeff Durbin, a pastor who travels with members of his congregation from Arizona to welcome the proposal Thursday.
The legislation provoked an immediate response from activists in support of access to abortion. Critics denounced it as “reckless” and predicted it would have devastating consequences beyond abortion, arguing that it would criminalize in vitro fertilization and some forms of birth control.
Mimi Spieler, 39, left for the Capitol of New Orleans with two friends to speak out against the bill.
“I know how hard it is to be a mother and I wanted my children,” she said. “We must not force women to have them.”
Ms. Spieler said she was 10 weeks pregnant once when she learned the fetus had not survived. However, her body did not recognize the loss of pregnancy or discarded the pregnancy tissue, so she needed medical attention. “If this happened after the bill was passed,” she said, “I would not have access to the necessary health care.”
Opposition to the proposal has grown beyond the usual lines in the reproductive rights debate, with some of Louisiana’s most prominent leaders against abortion expressing serious concerns. One group, Louisiana Right to Life, said in a statement that “our long-standing policy is that women vulnerable to abortion should not be treated as criminals.”
Opponents across the political spectrum also noted that the bill would call on Louisiana law enforcement judges and law enforcement officials to simply ignore Rowe v. Wade or any other federal decision that goes against the law.
Rowe v. Wade
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What is Rowe against Wade? Rowe v. Wade is a remarkable Supreme Court ruling that legalizes abortion in the United States. Decision 7-2 was announced on January 22, 1973. Judge Harry A. Blackman, a modest Republican from the Midwest and an advocate for the right to abortion, wrote the majority opinion.
What was the case? The decision overturned laws in many states that banned abortion, declaring that they could not ban the procedure before the fetus could survive outside the womb. This time, known as fetal viability, was about 28 weeks when Roe was decided. Today, most experts believe it is about 23 or 24 weeks.
What else did the case do? Rowe v. Wade created a framework for regulating abortion based on the trimester of pregnancy. During the first trimester, he allowed almost no regulations. In the second, it allows regulations to protect women’s health. In the third, it allows states to ban abortions, as long as exceptions are made to protect the life and health of the mother. In 1992, the court dropped this framework, while confirming Roe’s main possession.
“Your bill clearly violates the doctrine of separation of powers,” Barry Ivey, a Republican, told Mr McCormick during the debate in the House, asking if he acknowledged it. Mr McCormick did not reply directly.
“It’s good you don’t understand,” Mr. Ivy replied. “You wouldn’t bring that if you did.”
Gov. John Bell Edwards voiced opposition Wednesday, calling the bill “clearly unconstitutional.”
“To assume that a woman will be imprisoned for abortion is simply absurd,” Mr Edwards said in a separate statement Wednesday. “This legislation is radical and goes far beyond the benefit of life.
Mr. Edwards is the only Democratic governor in the Deep South. But he has a history of ardent support for anti-abortion legislation, such as a state law banning abortion, including in cases of rape and incest, at any time after fetal heartbeat can be detected, a move that has angered many. own parties.
Yet the prosecution of abortionists remains a line many anti-abortion activists have been reluctant to cross. The strength of this line was emphasized when Donald J. While campaigning for president, Trump was attacked for saying that women seeking abortion should be subjected to “some form of punishment.” He later withdrew his statement. “The woman is the victim in this case, as is the life in her womb,” Mr Trump said.
But supporters of Louisiana law were challenging, even when the bill attracted opposition. They say urgent efforts are needed to stop access to abortion in Louisiana, despite a Supreme Court ruling. Their logic: the states had made other moves that contradicted federal law. Abortion, they said, should be no different.
As he introduced the legislation on Thursday, Mr McCormick urged his colleagues to follow their moral compass. He claims that it does not hinder access to contraception or in vitro fertilization and that he believes the proposal will protect women who are considering abortion.
“We are facing a moral and ethical decision that we must make,” Mr McCormick said in the Chamber. “Politics should never decide who lives and who dies – not in America.”
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