Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives advanced a bill on Wednesday that would immediately end and criminalize abortion.
The Abolition of Abortion in Louisiana Act of 2022 (HB813), sponsored by State Rep. Danny McCormick, a Republican, would acknowledge “the sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God, which should be equally protected from fertilization to natural death.”
On Wednesday afternoon, lawmakers on the Louisiana House’s criminal justice committee approved the bill by a 7-2 vote.
The bill ensures “the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all unborn children from the moment of fertilization by protecting them by the same laws protecting other human beings.” The bill would also “treat as void” any federal laws or court rulings — namely, Roe v. Wade and its judicial progeny — that “deprive an unborn child of the right to life or prohibit the equal protection of such right.”
Under the Abolition of Abortion in Louisiana Act, state authorities would therefore apply laws about homicide to children in the womb.
Zach Conover — the communications director for Christian ministry End Abortion Now, which supported the Abolition of Abortion in Louisiana Act — told The Daily Wire that “equal protection simply means the same laws that protect born children from being murdered ought to protect preborn children from the same thing.”
“Every state has a penal code for homicide,” he continued. “However, with many of these states there exists within the code an exception for abortion. HB813 removes the exception to ensure that there can be no legal discrimination against babies in the womb.”
Brian Gunter — the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Livingston, Louisiana, who was instrumental in organizing other Christians in the state to support the legislation — explained to The Daily Wire that the abolition bill differs from other pro-life proposals.
“This bill enacts the immediate and total abolition of abortion in Louisiana. If this bill becomes law, all abortion will be criminalized in Louisiana,” he said. “No compromises. No waiting… This bill will equally protect a child in the womb with the same criminal laws that protect a child outside the womb.”
Gunter said that Louisiana’s current pro-life trigger law — the “The Human Life Protection Act” — only penalizes abortionists with $1,000 fines, even though animal cruelty is fined at up to $25,000 in Louisiana.
Conover added that “HB813 is the strongest bill of its kind ever proposed in Louisiana.”
“Virtually all pro-life laws allow for exceptions, acquiesce to the illegitimacy of the Roe opinion, and exempt mothers from any legal culpability. HB813 does none of these,” he explained. “It protects all human beings from fertilization, affirming that the definition of a person includes a preborn child, thus securing for them the same protections under the law enjoyed by everyone else. Any existing provisions at the state level regulating the practice of abortion are repealed in favor of the total and immediate abolition of abortion.”
Deliberations over the bill occurred after Politico published Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft majority opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade. Alito writes that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start” and “we hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.”
Gunter, however, noted that the Abolition of Abortion in Louisiana Act “would be effective whether or not Roe is overturned.”
“Roe was unconstitutional from the start, and states never should have complied with Roe — just as many states refused to comply with Dred Scott v. Sandford,” he told The Daily Wire. “Roe must be overturned, but this bill does not wait for action from the Supreme Court to end the murder of preborn children in Louisiana.”
“Roe has always been anti-constitutional and evil from the moment it was first enunciated by the Supreme Court,” Conover added. “We are thankful if the court follows through in striking down the ruling, but it remains the duty and moral obligation of every state to protect its own citizens.”
“The biblical position is that when any institution issues a law in conflict with His Word, God must be obeyed rather than men — as all of us will ultimately give an account before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”