(The Advocate) – Louisiana lawmakers have passed a bill that would ban abortions at about six weeks of pregnancy if upheld by the courts, sending it to the governor’s desk without exceptions for victims of rape and incest. Gov. John Bel Edwards, the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, said he will sign the bill into law. Supporters of the so-called “fetal heartbeat” legislation defeated proposed changes that would have
exempted victims of rape and incest from the abortion ban in a lengthy and at times fiery debate in the state House Wednesday. Critics called the ban “unconscionable” without such exceptions. “Even though I know there are horrible crimes that are committed with rape and incest … The child should not be killed and terminated because of the crime of the father,” said state Rep. Valarie Hodges, who carried Senate Bill 184 in the House. READ MORE
