Louisiana Bill Classifying Abortion as Homicide Receives Backlash From the Right

A Louisiana bill that would have made abortion a homicide was defeated. This shows how far lawmakers and anti-abortion organizations are willing to go in order to end the practice.

The legislation’s singular sponsor, Rep. Danny McCormick, removed the bill, titled the Abolition of Abortion in Louisiana Act of 2022, from consideration for a House vote after a proposed amendment would have stripped the most extreme sections of the legislation, making it more akin to a trigger ban already on the books.

It’s unclear what the future of the bill is. The amended version states that abortion providers will not be penalized by the law. However they could face up to 10 year imprisonment and a $100,000 penalty for performing an abortion at any stage of a pregnancy. If an abortion is performed after 15 weeks, those penalties will increase. The law also exempts instances where a pregnant person’s health is in jeopardy, and clarifies that birth control, including IUDs would remain legal.

The original legislation, which included the possibility of homicide charges against abortion seekers, was passed by a House Committee with a 7-2 vote on Wednesday. Experts said that even though it did not move beyond that, this was a significant shift in the abortion debate.

The measure was met with strong opposition not only from abortion rights advocates but also from politicians and anti-abortion organizations, such as the Louisiana Family Forum and Louisiana Right to Life. Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who is Catholic and has historically supported anti-abortion legislation, came out forcefully against the original bill, writing in a statement, “To suggest that a woman would be jailed for an abortion is simply absurd.”

“The most prominent national organizations don’t support anything that would criminalize the mother. They are focused in on criminalizing the abortion industry,” said Sarah Zagorski, communications director for Lousiana Right to Life. “Ultimately, this is inconsistent with what we as an organization have worked toward, by loving them both [the mother and the baby].”

Alisa Von Hagel, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who has studied the evolution of the anti-abortion movement, said that the “love them both” sentiment came about after the movement rebranded itself in the mid-1990s. Operation Rescue, which was a harassment tactic that targeted women outside of abortion clinics and was condemned by the public as too aggressive, was one example. the Washington Post.

According to a paper, 110 cases of arson and firebombing were reported between 1977 and 1988. published in the National Library of Medicine. “They had a bunch of bad publicity with the killings and arsons,” Von Hagel, said. “So they literally came up with this, their new motto or theme, meaning that the movement was loving the fetus or wanting to protect the fetus, but also love the woman or protect the woman.”

Von Hagel stated that this messaging, which often depicts pregnant women as victims who are coerced to an abortion, has generally stopped these groups wanting to prosecute people for making the decision. “It hasn’t been politically popular to charge the woman for homicide.”

Elizabeth Nash, a Guttmacher Institute analyst, stated that this would bring about a major shift in the way these groups view those who have had an abortion. In a post Roe world, the question could be more relevant. “If abortion is banned and people seek out medication abortion or self manage an abortion on their own, does that person become more of an actor and do abortion opponents want to then criminalize those actions?”

She added: “I feel that is something they are wrestling with. But right now, at least in Louisiana, they are saying that’s a bridge too far.”

On a national level, Senate Republicans have been primed to refute the idea that they’ll go after patients for getting abortions. As first reported by AxiosAfter the Supreme Court draft opinion leak, Roe v. Wade would be overturned, a campaign arm of the Republican Party circulated talking points advising Republicans to refute “Democrat lies” that they’ll “throw doctors and women in jail.”

State legislatures are still trying to set the foundation for this. Versions of the original bill’s language in Louisiana that would charge a pregnant person with homicide have been introduced in 12 other states around the country. Louisiana was the first to vote it out from committee. Bradley Pierce, president, Texas-based Foundation to Abolish Abortion (Foundation to Abolish Abortion), created these bills. He has been working with lawmakers to pass more extreme anti-abortion legislation.

Although this attempt to criminalize abortion in Louisiana was unsuccessful, there has been an increase in the number of pregnant people being prosecuted under various laws after a loss. According to the American Bar Association, which passed a resolution condemning the practice in February 2021.

“This disturbing trend — and the prospect of increased criminalization under a Supreme Court majority hostile to abortion rights — calls for a direct response from the legal profession,” the resolution states. “This is particularly important at a time when communities of color and their allies throughout the U.S. — and the world — are speaking out to oppose law enforcement violence and racially disproportionate criminalization.”

According to Sara Ainsworth who is the senior legal and policy director for If, When, How, a reproductive rights group, the legislation on fetal killing, which is currently in effect in 38 US states, was originally drafted to protect pregnant women.

“These laws were never intended to be used this way,” she said. “By prosecuting people in these circumstances, prosecutors are misusing the criminal legal system and that harms the law in multiple ways and attacks constitutional rights.”