Gov. Kathleen Blanco has signed into law two bills banning a controversial form of late-term abortions, making Louisiana the first state to outlaw the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal ban in April.
Under two bills, which went into effect July 13, anyone convicted of performing “a partial birth abortion … thereby kills a human fetus” and can be imprisoned for one to 10 years, fined from $10,000 to $100,000, or both.
Women who have the procedure will not be subjected to fines or jail time under the new laws.
A doctor charged with the crime can seek a hearing before the State Board of Medical Examiners to determine whether the procedure was necessary to save the mother’s life, an exemption under the new laws.
A lawsuit can be filed against someone who performs the procedure.
The law says those who can file a “wrongful death” or injury lawsuit are the biological father of the fetus, unless his “criminal conduct” caused the pregnancy, as in a rape; the mother of the fetus, unless she was an adult and consented to the procedure; or the mother’s guardians, if the mother was a minor at the time — unless the parents consented to the abortion.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that restricting the procedure, usually performed in the late stages of pregnancy, is legal.
Louisiana enacted a state ban on the procedure in 1997, but a federal court threw it out in 1999. So-called “partial-birth abortions” account for roughly 3 percent of the 11,000-plus abortions performed in Louisiana each year.
In early July, Blanco signed into law a bill that requires a woman to be told before an abortion that a fetus can feel pain. The bill also requires that a woman be told of the availability of anesthesia that would “eliminate or alleviate organic pain to the unborn child.” That law takes effect Aug. 15. (RNS)
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