BATON ROUGE, La. — The controversial Louisiana abortion bill that would charge women who have abortions with murder has been sidelined.
After a raucous debate, legislators voted to amend HB 813, removing language that would allow Louisiana to prosecute families who terminate a pregnancy.
Then, lawmakers set the bill aside without taking it up for a vote.
The bill's author, Rep. Danny McCormick, says he would like to return it to the legislative calendar at some point.
Anti-abortion groups, along with Gov. John Bel Edwards, had spoken out against the previous version of the bill.
Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life Benjamin Clapper said the bill was "unnecessary to protect life in Louisiana and is inconsistent with our policy of holding abortion businesses, not vulnerable women, accountable."
Louisiana currently has the "Human Life Protection Act" that would outlaw abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. That seems likely after a draft opinion by the supreme court was leaked a couple weeks ago.
