Louisiana lawmakers have advanced a bill that would allow women who terminate their pregnancies to be charged with murder.
HB 813, the “Abolition of Abortion in Louisiana Act of 2022,” would redefine a “person” as any individual human being from the moment of fertilization, which would extend all homicide laws to the unborn. The bill would also disregard the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade, regardless of whether it is overturned, as well as any federal laws, regulations or court orders that would “deprive an unborn child of the right to life.”
The bill was approved by the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice in a 7-2 vote on May 4. It is scheduled to be debated on the House floor on Thursday, May 12.
Louisiana Right to Life called the bill “unnecessary,” saying that women who have abortions should not be treated as criminals. The organization said Louisiana’s existing law in the 2006 Human Life Protection Act would ban abortion when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
