The Louisiana Senate passed five pro-life bills this week aimed at protecting both women and babies from abortion.
House Bill 578, known as the Abortion Pill Reversal Act, passed by a large margin of 31-7 in the Senate after previously passing in the House in a 71-27 vote. The bill requires that information about abortion pill reversal (which has been credited with saving the lives of more than 2,000 babies) be included in the state informed consent information for women undergoing an abortion. Abortion providers must tell clients, “Research has indicated that the first pill provided, identified as mifepristone, is not always effective in ending a pregnancy. If after taking the first pill you regret your decision, please consult a physician or health care provider immediately to determine if there are options available to assist you in continuing your pregnancy.”
The abortion industry admits that the abortion pill has a failure rate of 2-5% overall, but that failure rate increases with gestational age, with up to a 9% failure rate for women who are 9-10 weeks pregnant. Based on known statistics, Live Action News has estimated that these failure rates could affect anywhere from 7,000 to 31,000 women annually — and this is without factoring in abortion pill reversal progesterone treatments.
The Senate also passed House Bill 218, which calls for the installation of safe haven baby boxes in hospitals to protect newborn babies from neglect or infanticide. The law would allow parents to surrender their babies up to 60 days old without consequences if they feel they are unable to properly care for their baby. Safe haven laws are credited with having saved more than 4,000 babies.
READ: Media falsely claims Louisiana pro-life informed consent bills ‘limit abortion access’
“While the traditional person-to-person Safe Haven relinquishment is preferred, the Baby Box provides women a discreet option instead of abandoning her baby in a manner dangerous for the child,” Louisiana Right to Life explained. “Once the child has been placed in the box, medical care is immediately provided to the child before the baby is placed for adoption….”
House Bill 423, which also passed, would require hospitals to report to the state any abortion complication treatment or care they provided to patients. According to Louisiana Right to Life, women who suffer abortion complications are treated for those complications at hospitals instead of abortion facilities, leading to inaccurate data as to how many women are injured during abortions or suffer from other abortion-related complications.
A bill to strengthen the already-in-place parental consent requirements for minors seeking abortions also passed the Senate. House Bill 357 would limit the jurisdiction of a judicial bypass — which allows a teen to get permission for an abortion from a judge instead of a parent — to a judge within the teen’s local area.
The final bill, House Bill 7, would exempt diapers and feminine hygiene products from state sales tax. This would ease expenses for women concerned with the financial aspect of raising a child.
The bills have already passed in the House and will now head to the desk of pro-life Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards.
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