Governor John Bel Edwards expressed his disappointment that lawmakers failed to advance legislation to add exceptions for rape and incest to the state’s abortion ban. Edwards said it’s extremely unfortunate that the House Criminal Justice Committee voted against legislation that protects crime victims.
“By not having a rape and incest exception to the abortion ban, we are saying that as a matter of state law, we’re going to force crime victims to carry their rapist’s baby to term,” said Edwards.
Sarah Zagorski, with Louisiana Right to Life, said it’s a victory for pro-life advocates and they are pleased the committee voted against adding exceptions.
“We had a rape survivor testify, we had an adult who was conceived in rape testify, and those were such emotional and beautiful stories of people who’ve been impacted by this personally yet know that unborn life in the womb is valuable no matter how a child is conceived,” said Zagorski.
Edwards, who’s a pro-life Democrat, said a large majority like himself believe exceptions should be added and that in some cases children, victims shouldn’t be forced to carry a child for both their physical and mental health.
“I know that the vast majority of people here in Louisiana and around the country believe that we ought to have those exceptions,” said Edwards.
Zagorski disagrees and said legislators are merely reflecting the belief of their constituents that life begins at conception no matter how a child is conceived.
“We do believe this is a big victory and it really does show that our state has a very strong pro-life ethic at the end of the day, even in a hard situation,” said Zagorski.
Bills to reduce penalties for doctors who perform abortions and exempt women who have a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy from the abortion ban were pulled from consideration after exceptions for rape and incest were rejected by the House Criminal Justice Committee.
Comments