By Dorinda C. Bordlee, Bioethics Defense Fund Executive Director
BATON ROUGE – As the 2007 Louisiana Legislative session came to a close, several pro-life victories came to fruition.
Read on about each of these bills that are on their way to the Governor’s Desk:
Fetal Pain – Ultrasound Requirement: HB 25 by Rep. A.G. Crowe.
This bill requires that women considering abortion be given materials stating that at 20 weeks her unborn child could feel pain during the abortion, and requires that she be given the option of viewing the ultrasound of her unborn child.
The bill was amended in committee by Senator Lydia Jackson to gut the bill and put Planned Parenthood on a committee to decide what information abortionists would be required to give to women about their unborn children.
Senator Joe McPherson quickly moved to adopt the Planned Parenthood amendment, and then spoke out on the Senate floor alongside Senator Joel Chaisson to try to stop the Planned Parenthood amendment from being stripped from the bill.
The pro-life efforts of Senator Ben Nevers, Jody Amedee and Nick Gautreaux resulted in the stripping of the amendment and getting Senate final passage of Representative A.G. Crowe’s original pro-life bill.
The House concurred in H.B. 25 this week, with only Rep. Karen Carter voting against it. The bill is on it’s way to the Governor.
Partial Birth Abortion Ban: H.B. 614 by Representatives Gary Beard and Steve Scalise, and SB 161 by Senator Ben Nevers.
These bills make partial birth abortion a state crime that enables local district attorneys to prosecute abortionists who deliver unborn children into the birth canal and kill them only inches from full birth.
The bills are based on the federal partial birth abortion ban that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 18, 2007. The bills are on their way to the Governor.
Crisis Pregnancy Center Funding: H.B. 1, amendment by Rep. Steve Scalise. The budget bill contains a $1 million dollar appropriation to fund abortion alternatives counseling and services. H.B. 1 is headed to the Governor.
Prohibition of Egg Harvesting for Cloning Research: Study Committee led by Sen. Sharon Broome resulted in a letter to the committee explaining that current Louisiana law prohibits the sale of human ova (eggs). While LSU and Tulane have consistently favored human cloning for research, university representatives on the study committee agreed in principle that women should not get paid to undergo potentially dangerous hormone treatments and surgical procedures to gather human eggs for research. Law is currently in place.
Funding for Ethical Placental-Cord Blood Stem Cell Research: HB 765, supplemental funding amendment sheparded by Rep. Michael Jackson and backed by Louisiana Congressman Richard Baker. $2 million dollar appropriation for ethical stem cell research from placentas and umbilical cord blood. Rep. Gary Beard also advanced tax credits for ethical stem cell research which unfortunately did not survive conference committee.
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