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- May 27, 2009
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Louisiana's "Feticide" Bill | Mother Jones
I have a new story up today on a bill in Louisiana that would ban all abortions in the state and allow for abortion providers and women who obtain abortions to be charged with "feticide," a felony carrying a prison term of up to 15 years. John LaBruzzo (R), the Louisiana state representative behind the bill, claims that the inclusion of the line stipulating that women could be prosecuted for obtaining abortions was an accidental "mis-draft."
The current text of the bill is pretty explicit, though: "Feticide is the killing of an unborn child by the act, procurement, or culpable omission of a person, including the mother of the unborn child." In LaBruzzo's proposal, the word "including" replaces the words "other than," which appear in curent Louisiana lawa small change that completely alters the meaning of the provision.
It's pretty hard to believe this language was changed accidentially. I believe the real reason LaBruzzo now plans to remove it was not that it was a "mis-draft," but simply that, as LaBruzzo told the local news, including such a provision "would make [the law] too difficult to pass." He acknowledges the fact that most peopleno matter how anti-abortion they aredon't actually think that a woman should be put in jail for up to 15 years, with hard labor, for obtaining an abortion.
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I have a new story up today on a bill in Louisiana that would ban all abortions in the state and allow for abortion providers and women who obtain abortions to be charged with "feticide," a felony carrying a prison term of up to 15 years. John LaBruzzo (R), the Louisiana state representative behind the bill, claims that the inclusion of the line stipulating that women could be prosecuted for obtaining abortions was an accidental "mis-draft."
The current text of the bill is pretty explicit, though: "Feticide is the killing of an unborn child by the act, procurement, or culpable omission of a person, including the mother of the unborn child." In LaBruzzo's proposal, the word "including" replaces the words "other than," which appear in curent Louisiana lawa small change that completely alters the meaning of the provision.
It's pretty hard to believe this language was changed accidentially. I believe the real reason LaBruzzo now plans to remove it was not that it was a "mis-draft," but simply that, as LaBruzzo told the local news, including such a provision "would make [the law] too difficult to pass." He acknowledges the fact that most peopleno matter how anti-abortion they aredon't actually think that a woman should be put in jail for up to 15 years, with hard labor, for obtaining an abortion.
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