State Rep. Mary DuBuisson is sponsoring a bill that would provide exceptions to Louisiana’s abortion ban for women who are having or will have a miscarriage or those who have a complication that makes their pregnancy unviable.
The Slidell Republican said that she filed HB 461 because she believes it’s the right thing to do for women who might otherwise have to carry to term a baby that has died in utero or who will die shortly after birth.
‘Not a decision for government’
“These are people who want their child, they are not doing it for birth control,” DuBuisson said Friday. “This is not a decision the government should be able to make for a woman.”
Last year, the Legislature tasked the Louisiana Department of Health with creating a list of conditions that would be exempt from the state’s abortion ban. The agency listed 24 specific conditions and a broad exception for other abnormalities that are incompatible with life.
When the list came out in August, medical professionals said it didn’t include everything that they might encounter during a pregnancy. While the broader exception eased some concerns, it requires two doctors to sign off on the condition, something that others felt might be difficult in rural areas.
Under DuBuisson’s bill, a medical procedure for a woman whose pregnancy has ended or is in the process of ending because of a spontaneous miscarriage or who has a complication making the pregnancy nonviable is exempt from the state’s abortion ban.
The proposed law requires a diagnosis made “in good faith medical judgment and certified in writing in the woman’s medical record.”
Support in district
DuBuisson, a pro-life Catholic, said she was approached by Lift Louisiana, an advocacy group for women’s health and wellbeing, to address the issue. A a survey she did in her district showed support for exemptions to the ban in such cases, she said.
She also anticipates opposition and says that some people discouraged her from filing such a bill in an election year, telling her she might be committing political suicide and also putting other lawmakers in a difficult spot.
But DuBuisson said she didn’t want to force women to wait another year because of political cowardice.
Several abortion bills have also been filed this session, including one that would create an exemption for rape and incest. All are currently scheduled to be heard by the Administration of Criminal Justice Committee on May 9, DuBuisson said.
Paula Ouder, a Baton Rouge attorney who DuBuisson has asked to testify in favor of the bill, said she was carrying twin boys 11 years ago and learned that one of them had a chromosomal abnormality that frequently causes death even before birth. That twin died five weeks before she delivered.
Ouder chose to carry both twins, even though she learned of the dire condition before what has then a 20-week limit for an abortion. But she stressed that it was her choice, and not having a choice would have increased her worry and anxiety, she said.
DuBuisson agreed. “To force a woman to carry to term with zero chance of survival is heartless and cruel,” she said.
Leave a Reply