Bobby Jindal signs anti-abortion bill Thursday likely to close clinics in Baton Rouge, New Orleans
By on June 12, 2014
Gov. Bobby Jindal signed legislation Thursday that is all but guaranteed to close the only abortion clinics in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
His office issued a release after the bill signing ceremony Thursday (June 12) at the First Baptist Church in West Monroe, where the governor signed two pieces of "pro-life legislation." Sponsors of the bills are from Monroe and West Monroe.
House Bill 388, sponsored by Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, proposes a new law adding requirements of abortion doctors that clinic administrators say will force them out of business because of the unlikeliness they will be able to comply. Supporters have dubbed it the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act.
House Bill 305, sponsored by Rep. Frank Hoffman, R-West Monroe, would prohibit abortion providers or their affiliates, including Planned Parenthood, to instruct or distribute information on health related issues, such as sex eduction, at public or charter schools.
"I am proud to sign these bills because they will help us continue to protect women and the life of the unborn in our state," Jindal said in a statement issued after the signing. "These new laws will give women the health and safety protections they deserve and continue to make Louisiana a state that values individual human life."
"Women who resort to the traumatic experience of abortion are entitled to have these procedures performed in a safe environment," Jackson said in a statement issued after the signing. "The Unsafe Abortion Protection Act ensures that surgical abortion facilities are held to the same safety standards of other outpatient surgical facilities in Louisiana, and this initiative will build on our past work to protect life in our state."
A lawyer for the clinics has indicated administrators will likely file a joint suit challenging the new law after House Bill 388. It's unclear if the court would grant the clinics an injunction, allowing them to keep their doors open, while litigation pends.
National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League issued a release after the bill signing warning the measure "corners women into using dangerous back alley procedures, unlicensed practitioners and the black market drugs already seen peddled on the streets of New Orleans."
The organization called it "appalling" that the governor would "build his conservative bonfires by trampling upon a women's constitutional rights" and use state government to take away the freedom to choose. The statement added, "No one should have to look up her rights by zip code."
Jackson's legislation is modeled off of a Texas law placing further restrictions on abortion doctors by requiring them to obtain hospital admittance privileges from a facility within a 30 miles radius. Difficulty obtaining the privileges has contributed, since the law's adoption, to the closure of at least 19 of the 33 abortion clinics in Texas. A similar law adopted in Mississippi threatens the state's only clinic in Jackson. The Jackson clinic was granted an injunction to stay open while litigation pends, while the Texas clinics were not.
The bill's supporters have said the bill is about protecting women's health and brings regulations for abortion providers into line with those for ambulatory surgical centers in the state. Opponents say requiring admittance privileges is medically unnecessary and merely a tactic to take away Louisiana women's constitutional right to safe and legal abortion. Critics of this and other laws refer to them as TRAP laws, or Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers.
The Delta Clinic in Baton Rouge and Women's Healthcare Center in New Orleans are both run by the same administrator, Sylvia Cochran, who has said the clinic doctors are trying to obtain privileges but will likely be unable to comply with the law. Abortion rights advocates have said the Metairie clinic will also likely be shuttered. The law goes into effect September 1, giving the clinics about two and a half months to comply.
The only abortion clinic doctor in Louisiana who currently has admittance privileges is one of the two at a clinic in Shreveport. That doctor has had hospital privileges for years in connection with a private practice. The fifth clinic is located in Bossier City -- it's unclear if that clinic will be able to comply.
For doctors who do have admittance privileges, it's possible they could be revoked, as has been in the case in Texas. Just this week, a Texas hospital agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by abortion doctors who had sued over having their privileges pulled. They settlement ordered the privileges be reinstated. The hospital revoked the privileges, according to the Texas Tribune, shortly after it was targeted by abortion protestors.
In additional to admitting privileges requirement, the new law would require some doctors in private practice to register with the state as an abortion provider for the first time. Their name, location and status as an abortion provider would be public information, possibly opening them up to scrutiny and protesters.
Currently, physicians only have to register with Louisiana if they performed more than five abortions per month. With the new law, they would have to acquire a license if they perform more than five abortions per year. Acquiring a license from the Department of Health and Hospitals, the secretary of which testified in support of the anti-abortion bill, will likely prove a difficult and highly scrutinized process.
Jackson's legislation also requires that abortions induced by medicine, rather than a surgical procedure, be reported anonymously to the DHH and require a 24-hour waiting period. Surgical abortions are already tracked by the state agency and require the waiting period.
His office issued a release after the bill signing ceremony Thursday (June 12) at the First Baptist Church in West Monroe, where the governor signed two pieces of "pro-life legislation." Sponsors of the bills are from Monroe and West Monroe.
House Bill 388, sponsored by Rep. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, proposes a new law adding requirements of abortion doctors that clinic administrators say will force them out of business because of the unlikeliness they will be able to comply. Supporters have dubbed it the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act.
House Bill 305, sponsored by Rep. Frank Hoffman, R-West Monroe, would prohibit abortion providers or their affiliates, including Planned Parenthood, to instruct or distribute information on health related issues, such as sex eduction, at public or charter schools.
"I am proud to sign these bills because they will help us continue to protect women and the life of the unborn in our state," Jindal said in a statement issued after the signing. "These new laws will give women the health and safety protections they deserve and continue to make Louisiana a state that values individual human life."
"Women who resort to the traumatic experience of abortion are entitled to have these procedures performed in a safe environment," Jackson said in a statement issued after the signing. "The Unsafe Abortion Protection Act ensures that surgical abortion facilities are held to the same safety standards of other outpatient surgical facilities in Louisiana, and this initiative will build on our past work to protect life in our state."
A lawyer for the clinics has indicated administrators will likely file a joint suit challenging the new law after House Bill 388. It's unclear if the court would grant the clinics an injunction, allowing them to keep their doors open, while litigation pends.
National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League issued a release after the bill signing warning the measure "corners women into using dangerous back alley procedures, unlicensed practitioners and the black market drugs already seen peddled on the streets of New Orleans."
The organization called it "appalling" that the governor would "build his conservative bonfires by trampling upon a women's constitutional rights" and use state government to take away the freedom to choose. The statement added, "No one should have to look up her rights by zip code."
Jackson's legislation is modeled off of a Texas law placing further restrictions on abortion doctors by requiring them to obtain hospital admittance privileges from a facility within a 30 miles radius. Difficulty obtaining the privileges has contributed, since the law's adoption, to the closure of at least 19 of the 33 abortion clinics in Texas. A similar law adopted in Mississippi threatens the state's only clinic in Jackson. The Jackson clinic was granted an injunction to stay open while litigation pends, while the Texas clinics were not.
The bill's supporters have said the bill is about protecting women's health and brings regulations for abortion providers into line with those for ambulatory surgical centers in the state. Opponents say requiring admittance privileges is medically unnecessary and merely a tactic to take away Louisiana women's constitutional right to safe and legal abortion. Critics of this and other laws refer to them as TRAP laws, or Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers.
The Delta Clinic in Baton Rouge and Women's Healthcare Center in New Orleans are both run by the same administrator, Sylvia Cochran, who has said the clinic doctors are trying to obtain privileges but will likely be unable to comply with the law. Abortion rights advocates have said the Metairie clinic will also likely be shuttered. The law goes into effect September 1, giving the clinics about two and a half months to comply.
The only abortion clinic doctor in Louisiana who currently has admittance privileges is one of the two at a clinic in Shreveport. That doctor has had hospital privileges for years in connection with a private practice. The fifth clinic is located in Bossier City -- it's unclear if that clinic will be able to comply.
For doctors who do have admittance privileges, it's possible they could be revoked, as has been in the case in Texas. Just this week, a Texas hospital agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by abortion doctors who had sued over having their privileges pulled. They settlement ordered the privileges be reinstated. The hospital revoked the privileges, according to the Texas Tribune, shortly after it was targeted by abortion protestors.
In additional to admitting privileges requirement, the new law would require some doctors in private practice to register with the state as an abortion provider for the first time. Their name, location and status as an abortion provider would be public information, possibly opening them up to scrutiny and protesters.
Currently, physicians only have to register with Louisiana if they performed more than five abortions per month. With the new law, they would have to acquire a license if they perform more than five abortions per year. Acquiring a license from the Department of Health and Hospitals, the secretary of which testified in support of the anti-abortion bill, will likely prove a difficult and highly scrutinized process.
Jackson's legislation also requires that abortions induced by medicine, rather than a surgical procedure, be reported anonymously to the DHH and require a 24-hour waiting period. Surgical abortions are already tracked by the state agency and require the waiting period.
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