Fail Quote: Louisiana Gov. Jindal compares abortion-seeking women to criminals

Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)

From Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), signing the latest anti-abortion bill into law (although this one seems less outright draconian than most^*) and rebuking those who question the effects of such a measure:

"When officers arrest criminals today, they are read their rights," he said. "Now if we're giving criminals their basic rights and they have to be informed of those rights, it seems to me only common sense we would have to do the same thing for women before they make the choice about whether to get an abortion."

Ironically, the loathsome comparison may actually be somewhat accurate, given Louisiana’s notoriously harsh abortion laws. As ThinkProgress notes:

Louisiana already has some of the harshest anti-choice laws in the country. According to NARAL, the state still has an unconstitutional and unenforceable measure that prohibits abortion by anyone other than the woman unless necessary to preserve the woman’s life or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. Louisiana outlaws second-trimester abortion procedure with no exception to protect a woman’s health and in 2006 “enacted a near-total ban on abortion, to become effective if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.”

Under the state’s Right To Know law, abortion providers in Louisiana are already required to distribute pamphlets with information about pregnancy, termination, and alternatives. Women must also sign a statement that they have received the state information and are not being coerced into an abortion before undergoing the procedure.

So, obviously, what Louisianan women needed was even more restrictions on their reproductive care.

* Praise so faint, it’s not even there.

Tags: Bobby Jindal • Louisiana