LOUISIANA'S GOVERNOR SIGNS LEGISLATION CRIMINALIZING ABORTION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 18, 2006 Washington, DC—Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, called Governor Kathleen Blanco’s (D-LA) decision to sign Louisiana’s abortion ban into law an egregious attack on women’s freedom and privacy. The ban will outlaw abortion in Louisiana in nearly all circumstances if Roe v. Wade is overturned, and comes on the heels of the South Dakota Governor signing a ban that supporters hope will overturn Roe. “Gov. Blanco has bowed to far-right anti-choice groups and signed a law to criminalize doctors and eliminate the ability of a woman and her loved ones to make the most personal of private decisions. Extremist politicians in Louisiana, South Dakota and across this country are putting politics over women’s health and it has to stop. “Americans are tired of divisive attacks on a woman’s right to choose. Politicians who continue to back anti-choice legislation will feel the repercussions. Voters across this country will stand together in November and elect candidates who will support and protect our pro-choice values of freedom and privacy.”
BACKGROUND ON ABORTION BANS
In 1991, when Roe was under siege in much the same way it is now, Louisiana reenacted its unconstitutional pre-Roe abortion ban on nearly all abortions. Courts prohibited enforcement of the ban, which contained exceptions only for instances of rape, incest, and life endangerment, but not for other circumstances, not even to protect a woman’s health. As of June 18, 2006, legislatures in 14 states have considered or are considering abortion bans that would outlaw abortion in all or most circumstances: AL, GA, IN, KY, LA, MS, MO, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, WV. On June 13, the Ohio House of Representatives held a hearing on a bill that would ban abortion.
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