Published: June 5, 2022
By: Piper Hutchinson, LSU Manship School News Service
BATON ROUGE–The House gave final passage Thursday to bills that would enhance criminal penalties for abortion providers and make it a crime for out-of-state companies to supply abortion pills to Louisiana residents by mail.
Senate Bill 342, sponsored by Sen. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, would increase criminal penalties for abortion providers under Louisiana’s trigger laws.
The bill passed 72-25, with Democratic Reps. Robby Carter of Amite, Chad Brown of Plaquemine, Mack Cormier of Belle Chasse, Travis Johnson of Vidalia, Jeremy LaCombe of Livonia and Francis Thompson of Delhi supporting the bill.
Rep. Mary DuBuisson of Slidell was the only Republican to vote against the bill.
The House also voted 72-24 vote to give final passage to Senate Bill 388, which would criminalize providing abortion-inducing medication by mail.
Louisiana is one of thirteen states with trigger laws that go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Under a law signed by former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, most abortions would become illegal almost immediately upon the overturning of Roe.
Existing statute allows for prison terms of one to five years and fines of $5,000 to $50,000 for abortion providers. Jackson’s bill increases the penalties to one to 10 years of prison time and fines of $10,000 to $100,000.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said at a press conference Thursday that he supports exceptions for rape and incest. He has not yet said whether he would veto Jackson’s bill. He has previously supported bills that do not include the exceptions.
Read more at The Daily Iberian
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 