BATON ROUGE, La. -- A New Orleans area lawmaker who suggested the state should consider paying poor women to undergo sterilization as a way to shrink welfare rolls has lost his position as vice chairman of the House health care committee.

WWL-TV

State Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie

Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, will remain a member of the House Health and Welfare Committee but will no longer serve in a leadership role, House Speaker Jim Tucker announced.

Tucker said the Legislature soon will begin debating ways to improve and change health care in Louisiana, and he said LaBruzzo's statements damaged his leadership abilities.

"Some of the comments made by Rep. LaBruzzo recently have impeded his abilities to help lead critical health care reform and be an effective member of our leadership team," Tucker, R-Terrytown, said in a statement.

LaBruzzo didn't immediately return a request for comment Monday about the decision.

Two weeks ago, LaBruzzo prompted outrage when he proposed revisiting an idea from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke: voluntary sterilization for poor women as a way to shrink government costs.

LaBruzzo said he was researching a proposal that involved the state giving $1,000 to women who rely on government support like welfare and food stamps if they agree to have their fallopian tubes tied. He also talked of offering voluntary sterilization to poor men, as well, while increasing tax breaks for wealthier state residents who have children.

Critics called the suggestion discriminatory and racist, both claims the legislator denied, and suggested LaBruzzo instead should be encouraging education and job training programs for the poor.

No other lawmaker publicly supported LaBruzzo's proposal, which drew attention from around the country. Tucker named Rep. Rick Nowlin, R-Natchitoches, to replace LaBruzzo as vice chairman of the health care committee.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)