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Photo credit: Piper Hutchinson/LSU Manship School News Service

By Piper Hutchinson
LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE–The House gave final passage Thursday to bills that would enhance criminal penalties for abortion providers and make it a crime for out-of-state companies to supply abortion pills to Louisiana residents by mail.

Senate Bill 342, sponsored by Sen. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, would increase criminal penalties for abortion providers under Louisiana’s trigger laws.

The bill passed 72-25, with Democratic Reps. Robby Carter of Amite, Chad Brown of Plaquemine, Mack Cormier of Belle Chasse, Travis Johnson of Vidalia, Jeremy LaCombe of Livonia and Francis Thompson of Delhi supporting the bill.

Rep. Mary DuBuisson of Slidell was the only Republican to vote against the bill.

The House also voted 72-24 vote to give final passage to Senate Bill 388, which would criminalize providing abortion-inducing medication by mail.

Louisiana is one of 13 states with trigger laws that go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Under a law signed by former Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, most abortions would become illegal almost immediately upon the overturning of Roe.

Existing statute allows for prison terms of one to five years and fines of $5,000 to $50,000 for abortion providers. Jackson’s bill increases the penalties to one to 10 years of prison time and fines of $10,000 to $100,000.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, said at a press conference Thursday that he supports exceptions for rape and incest. He has not yet said whether he would veto Jackson’s bill. He has previously supported bills that do not include the exceptions.

The bill was amended significantly on the House floor. Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, who carried the bill on the floor, sponsored 15 pages of amendments to the five-page bill.

Included in the amendments that passed were exceptions to the criminal penalties for abortion providers in circumstances involving the life or health of the mother or if the fetus had a condition that is not compatible with life.

Several amendments to the bill were killed on the floor.

Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, proposed an amendment that would make it explicit that the criminal penalties could not be applied to women who end their own pregnancies. Landry’s amendment was shot down.

Emerson argued that the bill’s language would already prevent that from happening.

While Jackson’s bill would not criminalize those who undergo abortions, abortion rights advocates point out that women who end their pregnancies could potentially be penalized under other existing abortion statutes.

Louisiana’s criminal code defines “person” as “a human being from the moment of fertilization and implantation.”

This definition could potentially allow for prosecution of anybody who ends a pregnancy, not just abortion providers.

Landry introduced a bill to prevent such prosecutions, but the bill was rejected in April by the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.

Other amendments killed include another by Landry that would have expanded the exception for the life and health of the mother to include mental health conditions; one by Rep. Cedric Glover, D-Shreveport, that would have created an exemption for rape and incest; and one from Rep. Aimee Freeman, D-New Orleans, that would have allowed for just one doctor, rather than two, to certify that the fetus had a condition that is not compatible with life.

In opposing the amendments that would exclude rape or incest, Emerson read comments from Rep. Patricia Moore of Monroe, who has been out on leave for much of the session.

Moore, a pro-life Democrat, shared her mother’s experience as a teenager pregnant from a rape in the 1950s.

Glover argued that women should have a choice, pointing out that safe and legal abortions were not an option for a poor teenager in the 1950s, two decades before Roe v. Wade.

Landry took to the floor to oppose the bill, speaking on her Catholic faith.

“This has made political pawns of women’s bodies,” Landry said.

“I’m as Catholic as all of you,” Landry said. “You don't have to follow all the dogma of our respective religions.”

The House also gave final passage to the bill that would criminalize abortion aids from mail providers.

Senate Bill 388, sponsored by Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, prohibits the sale of abortion-inducing medication by prescribers outside of the state.

The bill passed on a 72-24 vote, with Democratic Reps. Robby Carter of Amite, Chad Brown of Plaquemine, Mack Cormier of Belle Chasse, Travis Johnson of Vidalia, Jeremy LaCombe of Livonia and Francis Thompson of Delhi joining House Republicans in supporting the bill.

The bill was carried on the floor by Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Jefferson.

The bill expands the definition of criminal abortion to include delivering, dispensing, distributing, or providing abortifacients when the person administering the medication is not a doctor licensed in Louisiana, effectively banning abortion by mail.

The law provides for five to 10 years of prison time or a $10,000 to $75,000 fine, or both. If the pregnant person is a minor, the penalty for the medication provider could range from 15 to 50 years of imprisonment or a $15,000 to $100,00 fine, or both.

Opponents of the bill argued that it is unconstitutional, as it potentially violates the federal Commerce Clause.

Freeman sponsored an amendment to the bill that also would prohibit the sale of erectile dysfunction drugs by mail.

“If we are going to legislate what women are trying to order through the mail, we should also legislate what men are trying to get through the mail,” Freeman argued.

House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, ruled that the amendment was not germane to the bill.

Because both bills were amended on the House side, they go back to the Senate for concurrence, which must be done by the end of the legislative session on Monday.

Click on the link below to download a .pdf version of the Patterson City Council agenda for Tuesday.

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the Police Department at 985-380-4605.

Wednesday, June 1
6:33 a.m.: 1300 block Sixth Street; Street; alarm.
7:54 a.m.: 200 block Glenwood; medical.
8:46 a.m.: U.S. 90 westbound, Berwick: traffic stop.
9:32 a.m.: 2400 block Sixth Street; theft.
9:41 a.m.: 100 block Mallard; medical.
10:50 a.m.: 300 block Franklin; animal call.
10:52 a.m.: 600 block Greenwood; alarm.
11:55 a.m.: 1000 block Ninth Street; complaint.
11:57 a.m.: 1400 block Sandra; complaint.
12:23 p.m.: 2600 block Sixth Street; assistance.
12:59 p.m.: La. 182/Redwood; traffic stop.
1:23 p.m.: 200 block Everett; complaint.
1:31 p.m.: 7700 block La. 182; theft.
1:45 p.m.: Duke/Fifth; complaint.
3:21 p.m.: 1100 block Dora; simple battery.
3:23 p.m.: 700 block Fourth Street; assistance.
3:24 p.m.: 100 block Mallard; complaint.
3:32 p.m.: 700 block Florence; complaint.
3:33 p.m.: Old bridge; stalled vehicle.
3:37 p.m.: 1400 block Mayon; complaint.
4:49 p.m.: 1100 block Dora; complaint.
6:12 p.m.: 1200 block David; alarm.
7:04 p.m.: 2400 block Cypress; animal complaint.
8:58 p.m.: 7700 block La. 182; disturbance.
9:10 p.m.: 1600 block Victor II; complaint.
9:28 p.m.: 7200 block La. 182; arrest.
9:33 p.m.: 300 block Second; complaint.
9:52 p.m.: 1100 block Marguerite; complaint.
10:01 p.m.: 100 block Oak; animal complaint.
10:37 p.m.: 900 block Seventh; suspicious subject.

Thursday, June 2
3:19 a.m.: 6300 block La. 182; complaint.

BATON ROUGE — A Senate committee struck provisions Wednesday that would have allowed for permit-less concealed carry, dramatically altering a bill to instead allow for teachers to carry concealed guns on school property in certain circumstances.
House Bill 37, sponsored by Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City, was intended to remove current requirements that an individual must have a concealed carry permit to carry a handgun in a concealed manner in Louisiana.
An amendment proposed by Sen. Eddie Lambert, R-Gonzales, removed provisions of the bill that would have allowed for permit-less carry and inserted language that would allow for teachers to become certified to carry weapons on school grounds.
The amendment passed 8-2 Wednesday evening, with Republican Sens. Jay Morris of Monroe and Mike Reese of Leesville in opposition.
Lambert pointed to the more than 40-minute period that police in Uvalde, Texas, were delayed in entering Robb Elementary School last week during a mass shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.
Lambert argued that having an armed teacher inside could have mitigated the carnage, though critics around the country have asked how a teacher could stand up to a shooter with an AR-15 if police were afraid to challenge him.
Moments before the bill was discussed Wednesday, news broke of a mass shooting at a healthcare facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The amendment would allow each school to designate one or more “school protection officers,” who could be a teacher, an administrator or a retired teacher or administrator. The individual would have to have a concealed carry permit and undergo specialized training.
The identities of any teachers or administrators who become school protection officers would not be subject to public records requests, although law enforcement officers would have access to the information.
Tom Costanza, executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, spoke against the bill.
“This bill does not promote a culture of life,” Costanza said.
McCormick would not commit to moving forward with the bill, saying in an interview that he had to review the amendments.
Last month, McCormick pulled a controversial bill criminalizing abortion after it was dramatically amended on the House floor.
McCormick did say that he would be in favor of arming teachers “in certain circumstances.”
The original bill, referred to by supporters as a “constitutional carry bill,” cleared the Senate Judiciary C Committee on the same day of the mass shooting at the Uvalde elementary school.
Louisiana, consistently a leader in murders and gun violence, is currently the top state for mass shootings per capita, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
A bill similar to McCormick’s original instrument was brought in 2021 but was vetoed by Gov. John Bel Edwards. The Legislature attempted an override but fell short of the necessary votes.
Edwards opposed the bill primarily due to the fact that it would eliminate training requirements for concealed carry.
The bill will now go to the Senate for a floor vote. If it passes the Senate, it would have to go back to the House for concurrence on amendments before the session ends on Monday.