Louisiana Passes Pro-life Amendment 1: No Right to Abortion in State Constitution

Nancy Flanders : Nov 4, 2020
LiveAction.org

"Passing the Love Life amendment is important not only to protect pregnant people and preborn children here in Louisiana, but also to demonstrate the power of pro-life Democrats. If the pro-life Democrats in Louisiana join with Republican counterparts to affirm that our constitution values preborn life, the Democratic Party may realize that using extreme pro-abortion ideology as a litmus test is a losing issue." -Sophie Trist, Secular Pro-Life

[LiveAction.org] According to the New York Times, Louisiana has voted to pass Amendment 1, known as the "Love Life" amendment. This pro-life amendment would add language ensuring that there is no right to abortion in the Louisiana constitution, and the state would not be required to fund it. (Image: Pixabay)

Authored by state Senators Katrina Jackson (D), Bet Mizel (R), and dozens of co-sponsors on both sides of the political aisle, the amendment reads: "To protect human life, nothing in this constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion." The amendment will prohibit state taxpayer dollars from being spent on abortion.

"Passing the Love Life amendment is important not only to protect pregnant people and preborn children here in Louisiana, but also to demonstrate the power of pro-life Democrats," said Sophie Trist for Secular Pro-Life. "If the pro-life Democrats in Louisiana join with Republican counterparts to affirm that our constitution values preborn life, the Democratic Party may realize that using extreme pro-abortion ideology as a litmus test is a losing issue."

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is also a pro-life Democrat.

READ: Louisiana's 'Love Life' Amendment: Recognizing the humanity of a dehumanized group

Louisiana already had a "trigger law" in place—the "Human Life Protection Act"—that would ban abortion with an exception for the health of the mother if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Under Amendment 1, there are no exceptions.

"It's important to understand that Amendment 1 is not a ban on abortion," said Jackson in an op-ed for The Advocate. "It simply keeps abortion policy in the hands of our legislators rather than state judges." In July, the Supreme Court struck down a law authored by Jackson that would have required abortionists to have admitting privileges to a local hospital in case of an emergency.

The Associated Press and Ballotpedia confirmed that Amendment 1 passed with more than 65% of precincts reporting [on Tuesday night]. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here