BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana lawmakers are poised to ask voters to add language into the state constitution declaring that it doesn't protect abortion rights.
The Senate voted 31-4 Tuesday for the proposal . The House already has approved it, but must take another vote to send it to the fall ballot.
Democratic Rep. Katrina Jackson's legislation would come into play if the U.S. Supreme Court ever reverses the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Abortion foes want to ensure that if states can determine the legality of the procedure, a federal court couldn't cite the Louisiana constitution as conferring rights that keep lawmakers from limitations or an outright ban.
Abortion rights supporters object to the constitutional amendment, because it aims to ensure restrictions on the procedure are allowed.
“This is a tactic of the anti-choice movement to overturn Roe and basically make abortion illegal in the state,” said Amy Irvin of the New Orleans Abortion Rights Fund.
Senator Beth Mizell of Franklinton said the amendment would give voters across the state a chance to weigh in on the subject of abortion.
“My husband and I had a hard time having children,” she said. “I value life. I think that right now it’s a sad thing that we’ve become so accustomed to lives being taken under the terms of abortion.”
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House Bill 425: www.legis.la.gov