Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards will sign Louisiana’s newest forced-birther law soon, possibly today, making the state the eighth with a law on the books that bans abortions after a “fetal heartbeat” is heard. That means at around six weeks, before many women even realize they are pregnant. Experts note the “fetal heartbeat” claim clashes with science.
None of these laws have been implemented, with two—in North Dakota and Arkansas—permanently blocked by the federal courts. The others are either being litigated or soon will be. At least 16 states have introduced or passed such laws. Jacqueline Kantor and Reis Thebault report:
“As I prepare to sign this bill,” Edwards said in a statement after it passed, "I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build a better Louisiana that cares for the least among us and provides more opportunity for everyone.”
In a press conference on May 16, Edwards said, “In eight years in the legislature, I was a pro-life legislator, 100 percent with the Louisiana Right to Life. When I ran for governor, I said I was pro-life and so that’s something that’s consistent.” On his monthly radio show, he said, "That’s the way I was raised. That’s what my Catholic Christian faith requires. I know that for many in the national party, on the national scene, that’s not a good fit. But I will tell you, here in Louisiana, I speak and meet with Democrats who are pro-life every single day.”
Most of the laws that effectively ban all abortions after six-to-eight weeks have passed their legislatures with just a few Democrats on board. In Louisiana, however, state Democratic Sen. John Milkovich introduced the bill, and more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers voted for it.
The ranks of forced-birthers among Democratic lawmakers have steadily dwindled at the national level, with perhaps half a dozen sticking by their opposition to legalized abortions, although far more oppose abortion personally but do not support laws imposing that view on other people.
But, at the state legislative level, forced-birther Democrats aren’t as scarce as they are in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. Though a minority, a number of them—such as Milkovich—have introduced rapist-friendly, molester-enabling, coat-hanger-selling, health-shattering, woman-hating forced-pregnancy bills restricting abortion. That’s not a new thing. In South Dakota, for example, Democratic state Sen. Julie Bartling introduced a bill in 2006 to ban abortion in all cases except when necessary to save a woman's life, with no exceptions for rape or incest. That law, meant, like the “fetal heartbeat” laws, to be a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, was shot down by the voters in a referendum.
Some pro-choice Democrats and activists have sought to make reproductive rights, including access to abortion, a litmus test for all Democratic candidates, to bring Democratic policy at local and state levels in line with the national party’s stance as stated in the party platform:
We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured. We believe that reproductive health is core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing. We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people. We will continue to oppose—and seek to overturn—federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment.
But a pro-choice litmus test has proved a no-go with Democratic Party leaders.