Louisiana anti-abortion bill fails

Rep. Mark Labruzzo (R-LA)

At last, some damned good news on the abortion rights front. Despite being hailed as the anti-abortion bill with the highest chances of being passed by anti-choice advocates, the Louisiana “personhood bill”, which would have given legal protections to zygotes and flat-out banned abortions throughout the state for any reason (including rape or incest), has failed when state representatives were unwilling to vote for legislation that would almost certainly result in the termination of the state’s $4.5 billion in Medicaid funding:

A Metairie lawmaker's attempt to force a direct challenge to the Roe v. Wade decision by banning abortion outright in Louisiana was derailed Wednesday to the House budget committee.

The 65-30 vote of the House to send Rep. John LaBruzzo's bill to the House Appropriations Committee could shelve the measure for the legislative session.

[…]

Lawmakers who supported sending the bill to the Appropriations Committee cited the possibility it could jeopardize $4.5 billion in federal health care funding Louisiana receives for its Medicaid program. A financial analysis said the proposal would put Louisiana at odds with a 1976 federal law requiring Medicaid to cover abortion services to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.

Ironically, it’s a fellow anti-abortion lawmaker who pushed for the bill to be shelved over the healthcare funding concerns.

(via Right Wing Watch)

Tags: Personhood USA • Louisiana • John LaBruzzo • personhood bills