Posted on May 18, 2022
A ‘bat****’ bill shows how far states could push their anti-abortion agenda
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The phones at the office of Women with a Vision were “ringing off the hook” when the staff at the New Orleans community health centre returned to their office on 3 May, the morning after a leaked draft opinion from the US Supreme Court signalled the end of constitutional protections for abortion access.
“People were sending messages through social media: ‘Is it gone?’” director Deon Haywood told The Independent.
The following day, a state legislative committee approved a bill to classify abortion as homicide, with language that criminalised fertility treatments, miscarriages and certain forms of birth control, and potentially sending patients to prison.
“People were sending messages through social media: ‘Is it gone?’” director Deon Haywood told The Independent.
The following day, a state legislative committee approved a bill to classify abortion as homicide, with language that criminalised fertility treatments, miscarriages and certain forms of birth control, and potentially sending patients to prison.
A ‘bat****’ bill shows how far states could push their anti-abortion agenda
Posted from independent.co.uk
New Orleans
Supreme Court
Abortion
Constitution
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Medicaid also covers children in households that make up to $5,897 per month for a family of four, eligible for food assistance for formula and nutritional food – programmes that are almost entirely funded by the federal government.
The state does not provide any public funding for abortion care, but the state has allocated more than $11m in federal funding meant for low-income family assistance – roughly $1m a year over the last decade – towards so-called crisis pregnancy centres, anti-abortion facilities that provide false or misleading nonmedical information to dissuade people from seeking an abortion.
The state’s current budget includes more than $1m for such clinics, and legislators are asking for another $1m for the upcoming budget year beginning on 1 July.
Louisiana Senate Bill 342, the “Reaffirmation of Human Life Protection Act,” co-sponsored by anti-abortion Democratic state Senator Katrina Jackson, would impose 10-year prison terms and fines of up to $100,000 for providing an abortion.
The bill defines personhood beginning at the “moment of fertilization” – a definition that could extend beyond legislation to criminalise pregnant women.
“There is already grave risk of prosecution under current law, and the language of [the bill] will only make it easier because it expands who may be a victim under Louisiana law,” abortion rights advocate Gwyneth O’Neill told a House committee on 17 May.
“If you’re being truthful when you say that it’s not the intention of these bills to throw pregnant women into jail, then the only way to do that is to create a clear, unequivocal affirmative exception that exempts pregnant women from criminal prosecution across all criminal statutes for any pregnancy outcome,” she said.
Last month, the same legislative committee rejected a measure from Rep Landry that would do exactly that.
“Everywhere we go, there’s a wall,” Rep Landry told The Independent. “It’s just sad. I don’t know what to do anymore. It’s just walls everywhere.”
..."Medicaid also covers children in households that make up to $5,897 per month for a family of four, eligible for food assistance for formula and nutritional food – programmes that are almost entirely funded by the federal government.
The state does not provide any public funding for abortion care, but the state has allocated more than $11m in federal funding meant for low-income family assistance – roughly $1m a year over the last decade – towards so-called crisis pregnancy centres, anti-abortion facilities that provide false or misleading nonmedical information to dissuade people from seeking an abortion.
The state’s current budget includes more than $1m for such clinics, and legislators are asking for another $1m for the upcoming budget year beginning on 1 July.
Louisiana Senate Bill 342, the “Reaffirmation of Human Life Protection Act,” co-sponsored by anti-abortion Democratic state Senator Katrina Jackson, would impose 10-year prison terms and fines of up to $100,000 for providing an abortion.
The bill defines personhood beginning at the “moment of fertilization” – a definition that could extend beyond legislation to criminalise pregnant women.
“There is already grave risk of prosecution under current law, and the language of [the bill] will only make it easier because it expands who may be a victim under Louisiana law,” abortion rights advocate Gwyneth O’Neill told a House committee on 17 May.
“If you’re being truthful when you say that it’s not the intention of these bills to throw pregnant women into jail, then the only way to do that is to create a clear, unequivocal affirmative exception that exempts pregnant women from criminal prosecution across all criminal statutes for any pregnancy outcome,” she said.
Last month, the same legislative committee rejected a measure from Rep Landry that would do exactly that.
“Everywhere we go, there’s a wall,” Rep Landry told The Independent. “It’s just sad. I don’t know what to do anymore. It’s just walls everywhere.”
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