Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a uncommon anti-abortion Democrat, signed two items of laws up to now week taking intention at abortion forward of the Supreme Court docket’s choice on Roe v. Wade.
One of many new measures bans physicians from prescribing medicine abortion over the cellphone or on-line, requiring sufferers to go to a supplier in particular person and take the medicine in entrance of them.
The brand new coverage, slated to enter impact on Aug. 1, might be difficult and time-consuming for sufferers searching for this frequent first-trimester possibility. The abortion-inducing tablets should be taken over the course of 24-48 hours, so the legislation would require sufferers to take a number of visits to a supplier. And abortion clinics nationwide have been inundated with out-of-state sufferers, partly attributable to Texas and Oklahoma ― each close to Louisiana ― enacting the nation’s strictest abortion bans in latest months. In lots of locations, specialists on the matter say, clinic appointments are booked two to 4 weeks out.
One other invoice Edwards signed strengthens Louisiana’s so-called “set off ban” that enables the state to swiftly outlaw abortion if the Supreme Court docket overthrows Roe v. Wade, which can occur within the coming weeks. This laws will increase the legal penalties for abortion, rising jail time from 5 to 10 years and elevating fines from $10,000 to $100,000.
Edwards stated in a press release that he signed the replace to the set off ban although he believes it ought to embrace exceptions for rape and incest, which it doesn’t.
“My place on abortion has been unwavering,” he stated. “I’m pro-life and have by no means hidden from that reality. This doesn’t belie my perception that there needs to be an exception to the prohibition on abortion for victims of rape and incest.”
Louisiana is one among 13 states with set off legal guidelines on the books, however at the least 22 states are anticipated to outlaw abortion in practically all cases as quickly because the Supreme Court docket offers them the go-ahead. A draft opinion leaked from the court docket final month revealed that the justices had been planning to toss out practically 50 years of abortion protections established by Roe v. Wade and let states rule on the matter with out federal oversight.
