Despite pleas from Democrats and harrowing testimony from doctors and rape survivors, a GOP-controlled legislative committee on Tuesday rejected a bill that would have added cases of rape and incest as exceptions to Louisiana’s abortion ban.
In the reliably red state, which is firmly rooted in the Bible Belt and where even some Democrats oppose abortion, adding exceptions to Louisiana’s strict law has been an ongoing battle for advocates — with a similar measure failing last year. Currently, of the 14 states that prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy, six have exceptions for rape and five have exceptions for incest.
“I’m going to beg the (committee) members to exercise common sense,” Democratic state Rep. Alonzo Knox told fellow lawmakers before the vote, urging them to approve the exceptions. “I’m begging now.”
Lawmakers voted against the bill along party lines, and the measure failed 4-7.
A nearly identical bill met the same fate last year, effectively dying in the same committee. Hoping to move the legislation out of committee and onto the House floor for full debate, Democratic state Rep. Delisha Boyd, the bill’s sponsor, added an amendment to the measure so that the exceptions would only apply to those under 17. the change was still not enough to influence the opponents.
“We have cases here in Louisiana of children who have been raped and then subjected to pregnancy until full term,” said Boyd, a Democrat. who told her own mother’s story in an effort to fight for the bill’s passage I. “I hope we consider this to protect the most vulnerable, our children.”
Boyd said he will continue to try to bring the bill to the floor, possibly asking the House Chamber to vote to bypass the committee. However, the technique is rarely successful for Democrats in the Legislature, where Republicans hold a supermajority.
Although the majority of those who voted against the bill did not give a reason for their vote, GOP state Representative Dodie Horton offered her thoughts, saying that while she believes convicted rapists should receive the maximum sentence possible, she cannot, in good conscience, allow for abortions. She described the fetuses as “innocent children.”
“I think we should punish the perpetrator to the nth degree, I would love to hang them in the street if it were in my power to do so. But I cannot tolerate the deaths of innocent people,” Horton said.
Like several other Republican states, Louisiana’s abortion law took effect in 2022, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade, ending half a century of national abortion rights. The only exceptions to the ban are if there is a substantial risk of death or disability for the mother if she continues the pregnancy or in the case of “medically futile” pregnancies – when the fetus has a fatal abnormality.
Democrats have repeatedly fought — and failed — to relax the law, clarifying vague language, abolishing prison sentences for doctors who perform illegal abortions and adding exceptions.
“It’s disgusting to me that we have a society where we can’t make exceptions in a situation where a young girl’s innocence was taken away in the most vile way… and now she’s pregnant and someone, somewhere wants to force a nine-year-old child , 10, 11, 12, 13 years to have a child of the monster who took your innocence?” Knox said.
The bill drew dozens of people to testify, including rape survivors who shared their own stories and doctors who argued that their hands are tied under current law.
Neelima Sukhavasi, an obstetrician and gynecologist, told lawmakers that since the abortion ban took effect, she and other colleagues have given birth to babies born to teenagers who were raped.
“One of these teenagers gave birth to a baby while holding a teddy bear — and that’s an image that once you see it, you can’t unsee it,” Sukhavasi said.
In 2021, there were 7,444 miscarriages reported in Louisiana, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of these, 27 were obtained by people under 15 years of age. Nationwide, 1,338 pregnant patients under the age of 15 have had abortions, according to the CDC.
A study released by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that between July 2022 and January 2024, there were more than 64,000 pregnancies resulting from rape in states where abortion has been banned in all or most cases.
