Louisiana lawmakers in the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee advanced a bill Monday that would expand civil liabilities for those who “aid” or “abet” an illegal abortion.
House Bill 575 allows the pregnant mother, the preborn child’s father, and the child’s grandparents to sue “any person who performs, causes or substantially facilitates an abortion.” The legislation also applies in instances in which the abortion pill is taken but does not kill the preborn child, and it expands the time frame under which the person can sue, from three years to five years. The bill’s aim is to curtail the flow of illegal abortion pills being mailed into the state.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill testified alongside the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Lauren Ventrella, in support of the bill.
“It’s not safe; there is no medical care happening here,” Murrill said of the abortion pill. “These are not doctors providing health care. They are drug dealers.”
“Its not different if they were mailing fentanyl, or they were mailing any other illegal drug, because it’s illegal to mail it to our state for purposes of procuring an abortion,” she added.
READ: Louisiana law regulating abortion pill as a controlled substance goes into effect
Earlier this year, a Louisiana grand journey indicted New York abortionist Dr. Margaret Carpenter on felony charges after she mailed the abortion pill to a teen girl who suffered complications after undergoing the abortion procedure. The girl’s mother is also facing charges for ordering the pills. Though the state has tried to extradite Carpenter so that she can face charges, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has vowed to protect Carpenter under the state’s “shield law.”
Louisiana Right to Life Executive Director Ben Clapper spoke with Rep. Julie Emerson, one of the bill’s authors, about the importance of the legislation.
“It’s scary that you can prescribe such consequential pills and medicine that will have such an effect on your life, and obviously the baby’s life. So it’s scary that that can still go on and there’s no repercussions,” Emerson noted, adding, “We do have loopholes here that we need to close.”
The bill next heads to the full House for a vote.
