Louisiana Backtracks From Linking Abortion To Murder Charges
Louisiana House members voted broadly to revamp currently-proposed legislation that would have made the state among the strictest anti-abortion enforcers — prompting the bill's sponsor to pull the proposal to subject women who have abortions to murder charges. Meanwhile, the Hill reports many red states are planning new anti-abortion legislation.
AP:
No More Murder Charge For Women In Louisiana Abortion Bill
The sponsor of a bill that would have subjected Louisiana women to murder charges for having abortions abruptly pulled the proposal from debate Thursday night after House members voted 65-26 to totally revamp the legislation, eliminating the criminal penalties. The controversial bill would have ventured farther against abortion than lawmakers’ efforts in any other state. It would have made women who end their pregnancies subject to criminal homicide prosecutions. (McGill, 5/13)
In abortion news from Minnesota, Georgia, Missouri, and elsewhere —
The Hill:
Red States Plan Special Sessions To Target Abortion
If Republicans in Congress have any qualms about announcing new abortion restrictions in the event Roe v. Wade is overturned, they are not shared by their state-level counterparts. GOP governors and state legislators are planning to hold special legislative sessions later this spring and summer to consider new measures to remove or restrict abortion rights, after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is expected to reverse the landmark decision half a century ago guaranteeing those rights. (Wilson, 5/12)
NBC News:
Some Birth Control Could Be Banned If Roe V. Wade Is Overturned, Legal Experts Warn
With trigger laws in 13 states poised to go into effect if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, a new era of restricted access to birth control could unfold in states that narrowly define when life begins, legal experts say. “This is the new Jane Crow that we’re about to enter,” said Michele Goodwin, a chancellor’s professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of “Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood.” (Lozano, 5/12)
AP:
Minnesota Senate Democrats Try To Force Abortion Debate
The Minnesota Senate Democratic minority tried unsuccessfully to force consideration Thursday of nine abortion and health-related bills that the Republican majority has kept bottled up in committee, saying it was critical to take a stand even though they lacked the votes to prevail. The leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and sharply curtail abortion rights in roughly half the states has energized both sides of the abortion debate in Minnesota. While it’s unlikely that any abortion measures will pass the divided Legislature before the May 23 adjournment deadline, the issue is certain to take on new importance in the November elections. (Karnowski, 5/12 )
AP:
Georgian Wants Congress To Decry Prosecution Of Abortions
A Georgia representative is proposing that Congress condemn attempts to criminally prosecute people who perform abortions, have abortions or experience miscarriages. Rep. Nikema Willams, an Atlanta Democrat who formerly lobbied for Planned Parenthood in the Southeast, is introducing her resolution Thursday, and has already collected 115 co-sponsors, all Democrats, her spokesman said. (Amy, 5/12)
Kansas City Star:
Inside Missouri’s Anti-Abortion History Before Roe V. Wade
When Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade leaked this month, it included an appendix of 19th-century state laws criminalizing abortion. Missouri was first on the list. “That every person who shall wilfully and maliciously administer or cause to be administered … any poison, or other noxious, poisonous or destructive substance or liquid,” the 1825 law read, “to cause or procure the miscarriage of any woman then being with child, and shall thereof be duly convicted, shall suffer imprisonment not exceeding seven years, and be fined not exceeding three thousand dollars.” (Shorman, 5/13)
In abortion news from Oklahoma —
The 19th:
Oklahoma Abortion Clinics Have A Closer Look Than Most At A Post-Roe World
The day after the Supreme Court leak, Andrea Gallegos had already started to cancel patients’ appointments. A draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed access to abortion, had been published online and verified by the court. In the aftermath, Gallegos, the administrator for Tulsa Women’s Clinic, an Oklahoma-based abortion provider, wasn’t worried about Roe — at least, it wasn’t the first thing she was worried about. To her, there was a bigger, more immediate threat: a six-week abortion ban the Republican governor was expected to sign any day now. The law, a direct copycat of a prohibition currently in effect in Texas, was expected to survive legal challenges. It would take effect immediately. (Luthra, 5/12)
Oklahoman:
Senate Candidate T.W. Shannon Accuses Planned Parenthood Of Racism
With abortion rights curtailed in Oklahoma and potentially in jeopardy nationwide, Republican Senate candidate T.W. Shannon has launched an attack on Planned Parenthood, calling it “the true face of white supremacy.” In a television ad running statewide, Shannon, who is Black and Native American, calls Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger a “vile racist” and says, “Four hundred thousand Black babies killed every year since Roe versus Wade.” He says, “Don’t tell me Black lives matter 'til these lives matter.” Shannon, the CEO of the Chickasaw Community Bank in Oklahoma City and former speaker of the state House of Representatives, is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Inhofe. Shannon, who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2014, is one of 13 Republicans seeking the nomination. (Casteel, 5/12)
