Abortion

‘Personhood’ Amendment Could Be Considered in Louisiana

A Louisiana Republican pre-filed a bill Tuesday that would call for a constitutional amendment to define life as beginning at conception. The bill is the latest of the so-called personhood measures that have failed time and again in legislatures and ballot initiatives.

A Louisiana Republican pre-filed a bill Tuesday that would call for a constitutional amendment to define life as beginning at conception. The bill is the latest of the so-called personhood measures that have failed time and again in legislatures and ballot initiatives. Shutterstock

A Louisiana Republican pre-filed a bill Tuesday that would call for a constitutional amendment to define life as beginning at conception. The bill is the latest of the so-called personhood measures that have failed time and again in legislatures and ballot initiatives.

“Personhood” legislation, which would criminalize abortion and ban many forms of birth control, in vitro fertilization, and some health care for pregnant women, has thus far failed to become law in places where anti-choice activists have pushed for the policy. “Personhood” laws have lost out in even the most conservative states.

Such bills so far this year have not had any success: “personhood” legislation introduced in deep-red Mississippi died in committee, and similar legislation introduced in Iowa failed to meet a legislative deadline for consideration during this session.

Republican lawmakers in Colorado introduced a “personhood” bill in January, just two months after voters roundly rejected the policy at the ballot box.

Louisiana’s SB 80, sponsored by Sen. Elbert Guillory (R-Opelousas), would create a constitutional amendment to define human beings beginning “from the moment of conception,” granting all legal rights afforded to other people under the law.

The bill calls for Louisiana voters to approve the amendment during an election on October 24, 2015.

Guillory, who switched parties and became a Republican in 2013, has compiled a staunchly anti-choice voting record in the Louisiana legislature. He voted last year for the omnibus anti-choice bill HB 388, which threatens to close three out of Louisiana’s five abortion clinics.

Several bills to restrict reproductive rights were introduced by state lawmakers during the state’s 2014 legislative session. Lawmakers passed bills that banned the use of telemedicine for abortion care and banned abortion providers or their affiliates from providing instruction or instructional materials on any health topic in public schools.

The Louisiana state legislature convenes April 13.