DID YOU KNOW?
HB
727 by Rep. Barry
Ivey would require resource provision for women contemplating abortion. He
told the Health and
Welfare Committee the current law did not provide adequate mental health
counseling. Then Rep. Regina Barrow
offered a substitute bill, which expanded on the original. Basically, it
creates pamphlets that must be distributed 24 hours prior to the contemplated
procedure, emphasizing mental health, coercive, and human trafficking aspects. Witnesses
said it was important because information helps some women understand that
abortion often is a symptom of much larger life crises for which they can
receive assistance in addressing.
Opponents, who ran abortion
clinics or financing mechanisms, said they didn’t talk anybody into abortions.
They said they give counseling information already (although the list read off
titled to pro-abortion sources). They claimed many of the things in the bill
they already did, so it was unnecessary. They said it was lack of support
services that encouraged abortion, not lack of information. Also, they said
they provided this information at their cost, not the state’s.
Chairman Scott Simon asked what
the purpose of the information they gave was, the answer being it was to help
women make a decision. Simon said this differed from the purpose of the bill,
which was to give women who did not have full information the kind of information
to discourage abortion. He also noted even if there was a cost to the state in
preparing these brochures, even prevention of one abortion made that
worthwhile.
After extensive cross-examination
of witnesses, Rep. Bernard
LeBas said he hoped opponents would embrace the bill if it passed. Rep. Kenny Cox, after
agreeing with the thought that the safety net in America was insufficient, said
that even if more women seemed relieved after an abortion than disturbed, in a
study cited by the witnesses, that some do feel disturbed and to help them
avoid that and the human trafficking aspect make the bill useful. Rep. Katrina Jackson
disputed the opponents’ assertion about lack of support, noting that Medicaid provided
the means by which family planning could occur.
Barrow moved to adopt by
substitute, which was unanimously approved. After closing debate, there was no objection
to favorable reporting.
DID YOU KNOW?
HB
305 by Rep. Frank
Hoffman would prevent elective abortion providers and affiliates from
distributing materials and media related to family planning and human sexuality
in schools. There were amendments to put it in this posture, passed without
objection.
Supporters argued that decisions
whether to abort were most shaped by their immediate environment, and that many
teenagers who go through it suffer mentally. They said allowing this kind of
information at schools gave too much sway to abortion and too little to the
culture of life. This bill, they said, would support continued commitment to a
right to life and that this expression of preference to childbirth was
constitutionally protected, and criticized materials that abortion providers
made available that did not follow this preference that could be circulated in
schools. Jackson asked Hoffman about the information. He said the provision had
the effect to link a student to an abortion provider, but that information about
family planning from other sources still could be disseminated.
Opponents called the bill
dangerous to teenager health, saying providers were the best source for family planning
information, and claimed the bill would stigmatize the word “abortion” even
more. In questioning, LeBas said he thought “Planned Parenthood,” the
affiliation of one of the supporters, was a misleading term. He also said that
even if material that encouraged sexual activity from the national organization
was not intentionally circulated in Louisiana, this was an example of something
that could be circulated in the school. Barrow said that information was good,
but this kind of information that LeBas had queried about was troubling. Rep. Julie Stokes then
read from the information on the national site that she said seemed to endorse
sex by people with HIV, and that there could be a moral divide between parents
and what could appear in school, which made the bill necessary.
On closing, Hoffman emphasized
information still was available, but that the link to providers was crucial to
its necessity. Without objection, the bill passed.
QUOTES OF THE DAY
A wonderful relief, I guess.
Simon,
with a tinge or sarcasm, when commenting on the survey mentioned by HB 727
opponents.
It’s amazing what different
studies can show.
Simon,
when receiving the information about teenagers’ depression after abortion.
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