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BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana House on Wednesday passed in a 79-23 vote anti-abortion legislation that would effectively ban abortions in the state, echoing similar legislative efforts by other Republican-controlled legislatures in the South.
A bill by Sen. John Milkovich, D-Shreveport, would outlaw the abortion of a fetus with a detectable heartbeat, which usually occurs around six weeks and before many women are aware they are pregnant.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a pro-life Democrat who is up for re-election this fall, commented after the vote that he would sign the bill into law.
“In 2015, I ran for governor as a pro-life candidate after serving as a pro-life legislator for eight years. As governor, I have been true to my word and my beliefs on this issue,” the governor said in a statement.
“As I prepare to sign this bill, I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build a better Louisiana,” Edwards added.
Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, who presented the bill, said, “In Louisiana we have a culture of love of life, love of family, and love of God. Nothing is more precious to any of us than the heartbeat [of a baby].”
The proposal does not exempt pregnancies that result from rape or incest.
Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge, proposed on the House floor an amendment that would have exempted such cases from the ban. His amendment failed as only 35 lawmakers voted in favor and 67 opposed it.
“I am not man enough to tell a woman who has had her insides ripped apart and been raped, ‘live with it,’” James said. “I’m not man enough to do that. This is common sense. We cannot force a woman to live with that trauma.”
Opposing James’ amendment, Rep. Beryl Amedée, R-Houma, urged victims of rape to see the child as another victim and to put the baby up for adoption if they do not want to keep it.
“I want you to remember that having an abortion doesn’t mean that you’re no longer a mother, it means that now you are the mother of a deceased baby,” Amedee said.
Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, joined several of his Republican colleagues in opposing James’ amendment. “We don’t punish children in this country for the sins of their fathers,” Seabaugh said.
Seabaugh added that he would support legislation that would allow a rape victim who became pregnant as a result to pursue the death penalty for her rapist.
“If you want choice, let [the mother] choose to execute the rapist. That’s fine,” he said.
Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, who co-sponsored James’ amendment, said under Seabaugh’s reasoning Louisiana would not be “as pro-life as we say.”
“It should be unconscionable for us to sit here and dictate a woman’s body,” Marcelle said. “How many times have you been pregnant, or raped? I think we need to sit back and take a hard look at what we’re trying to legislate.”
Milkovich’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ bill has received strong bipartisan support. The Senate already approved it in a 31-5 vote earlier this month.
Edwards and Louisiana Democrats, some of whom have either offered or supported restrictive abortion legislation, stand in stark contrast with the national Democratic platform that seeks to protect a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion.
“Unfortunately, Republicans and Democrats in this state are making political careers off of this issue that will have dire and severe consequences on women and families in Louisiana,” said Amy Irvin, executive director of the New Orleans Abortion Fund, a pro-choice group.
Earlier this month, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the most restrictive abortion ban in the country into law. The legislation does not provide exemptions for rape and incest victims. It also charges doctors who perform the procedure with a felony that carries up to a 99-year sentence.
Several states have already authorized similar bans. In addition to Alabama, legislatures in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, Texas, West Virginia and Florida have introduced bills to implement six-week abortion bans.
Abortion after six weeks remains legal in these states, however, because the bans have either not taken effect yet or have been blocked by a judge.
A federal judge temporarily halted a Mississippi law last week that prohibited abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
The Louisiana ‘fetal heartbeat’ bill would not go in effect until the Mississippi law is approved and it would likely be challenged by a federal court.
Earlier this year, the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to block a Louisiana law that prohibited doctors without admitting privileges to nearby hospitals from performing abortions.
In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortions nationally under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
In a phone interview, Irvin said abortion is a safe and legal procedure, but the proposed law would force women to travel out of state to seek an abortion or give birth to kids that they cannot afford to raise.
Louisiana currently has three abortion clinics, located in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport. In the early 1990s, the state had 17 abortion clinics, most of which were closed due to anti-abortion state regulations.
Irvin, a pro-choice advocate, said the ‘heartbeat’ bill would also put women at risk, citing the high rate of maternal and infant mortality in Louisiana, and health conditions or fetal anomalies that could complicate a pregnancy.
Louisiana ranks 47th in the country in maternal mortality with almost 45 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Maternal mortality rates and neonatal mortality are higher in states with more abortion restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The proposal sparked protests in the state earlier this month, including a pro-choice rally in New Orleans and protesters pouring fake blood on floors of the State Capitol in Baton Rouge.
During this legislative session Louisiana lawmakers have supported several pro-life bills that would further regulate or prohibit abortions in the state.
The House briefly considered a proposal by Frank Hoffmann, R-West Monroe, that would prohibit women from obtaining medication abortions from a gynecologist’s office. As a result, women seeking chemical abortions would have to visit one of the state’s abortion clinics, Hoffmann’s bill proposed.
The House also considered a constitutional amendment by Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Baton Rouge, which would amend Louisiana’s constitution and strike out any legal right to having an abortion or securing public funds for the procedure.
The sponsors of these bills rejected Senate amendments to their bills, so the House is now expected to discuss them in the following days.
Milkovich and Hodges commented on the successful passage of the ‘fetal heartbeat’ bill outside the State Capitol.
In presenting the ‘heartbeat’ bill that the House easily passed, Hodges said she felt proud.
“I think life is always worth saving,” she said.
Lauren Heffker and Hunter Lovell contributed to this report.

Submitted Photo
Christopher Howard and Ulysses Collins were recognized as April Readers of the Month at Maitland Elementary School. They were shown with mentors and volunteer reading listeners Earl Johnson, left, and Herman Hartman.

BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana senators late Wednesday scuttled a bid to roll back the hard-fought, seven-year tax compromise struck by state lawmakers last year, ending House Republican efforts to sizably shrink the dollars available in the state treasury.
The Senate tax committee shelved House GOP leader Lance Harris’ proposal for an early phase-out of the sales tax that formed the compromise’s centerpiece.
Opponents said it’s too soon to start meddling with a tax deal that stabilized state finances.
“I think it’s ill-timed to bring a bill after one year,” said Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, a Lafayette Democrat.
The House-backed bill would have gradually reduced the 0.45% portion of Louisiana’s 4.45% state sales tax over four years. It would have been nearly eliminated by mid-2023, lessening state tax collections by an estimated $348 million.
Gov. John Bel Edwards opposes efforts to eliminate or lower the tax before its planned mid-2025 expiration, saying it would undermine a compromise reached after seven special sessions that ended years of budget instability.
The majority-Democrat Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee voted 6-2 against the bill, killing it for the session.
Harris, of Alexandria, argued recent surpluses show Louisiana taxes are too high and Edwards and the majority-Republican Legislature passed more than are needed.
He said Louisiana is receiving $2 billion-plus more from taxes and fees than five years ago.
“Maybe it’s time we give the taxpayers a break,” Harris said. “We have been, in my opinion, on somewhat of a tax binge.”
Even though the proposal won’t reach the governor’s desk, Republicans have used it to hammer Edwards on taxes in an election year where he faces two GOP challengers.
GOP lawmakers unsuccessfully proposed a series of bills aimed at scaling back parts of last year’s tax compromise. But they ran into a roadblock of opposition in the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee.
The panel earlier this session killed a separate proposal aimed at reworking the sales tax by steering some of the money to road and bridge work. On Tuesday, Republican Rep. John Stefanski, of Crowley, pulled from consideration his legislation aimed at undoing cuts to a hefty tax break for businesses’ utility costs. The House-approved bill faced certain defeat with the Senate committee.
Voting to shelve Harris’ bill Wednesday were Boudreaux and Sens. Yvonne Dorsey Colomb, D-Baton Rouge; Eddie Lambert, R-Gonzales; Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria; Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans; and Gary Smith, D-Norco.
Voting against shelving the bill were Republican Sens. Neil Riser of Columbia and Dale Erdey of Livingston.
House Bill 599: www.legis.la.gov

In theory, garlic shrimp pasta has all the makings of an ideal weeknight meal. Toss a few quick-cooking ingredients — shrimp, garlic, oil, wine — with boiled dried pasta, and only the salad’s left holding up dinner.
But there are challenges. Delicate shrimp overcooks in a matter of seconds. Volatile garlic can easily become overbearing or bitter (or simply disappear). Add to that the feat of getting a brothy sauce to coat the pasta, and this simple recipe turns into a precarious balancing act.
GARLIC SHRIMP PASTA
Start to finish: 45 minutes
1 lb. large shrimp (26 to 30 per pound), peeled, deveined, and each shrimp cut into 3 pieces
3 Tbsp. olive oil
9 garlic cloves, peeled (5 cloves minced and 4 cloves smashed)
Salt and pepper
1 lb. penne, ziti, or other short, tubular pasta
¼-½ tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. all-purpose flour
½ cup dry vermouth or white wine
¾ cup bottled clam juice
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving
Combine shrimp, 1 tablespoon oil, one-third of minced garlic, and ¼ teaspoon salt in bowl. Let shrimp marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Heat smashed garlic and remaining 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, until garlic turns golden but not brown, 4 to 7 minutes. Off heat, remove garlic with slotted spoon and discard. Set skillet with oil aside.
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve ½ cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot.
While pasta cooks, return skillet to medium heat. Add shrimp along with marinade, spread into even layer, and cook, without stirring, until oil starts to bubble gently, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir shrimp and continue to cook until almost cooked through, about 1 minute longer.
Remove shrimp with slotted spoon and transfer to clean bowl. Add remaining minced garlic and pepper flakes to skillet and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in vermouth and cook for 1 minute. Stir in clam juice and parsley and cook until mixture starts to thicken, 1 to 2 minutes.
Off heat, whisk in butter until melted, then stir in lemon juice.
Add shrimp and sauce to pasta and toss to combine. Add reserved cooking water as needed to adjust consistency. Season with pepper to taste.
Serve immediately with lemon wedges separately.
Servings: 4-6
—Nutrition information per serving: 474 calories; 130 calories from fat; 15 g fat (5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 111 mg cholesterol; 692 mg sodium; 60 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 20 g protein.