The US state of Louisiana has decided to tighten the abortion law. Yesterday, parliamentarians voted in favor of a law that prohibits abortions from the first heartbeat – after the sixth week of pregnancy. Exceptions allow the „heartbeat law“ in health hazards to the mother or if the fetus has an incurable disease.
It still has to be signed by the governor of the conservative southern state, John Edwards. He has already assured his signature.
The supporters of the law expect that the project will be challenged in court. However, it is also the goal of the abortion opponents that the case ends up in the Supreme Court. After US President Donald Trump has ensured that the court is predominantly filled with conservative lawyers, they hope that a landmark decision from the year 1973 will be tipped there. At that time, the Supreme Court recognized the fundamental right of women to abortion.
Planning Parenthood, a family planning organization, spoke of an „alarming and widespread national trend“ to criminalize abortions. Several conservative states have adopted similar laws in recent weeks. Alabama launched the nation’s strictest abortion law. There, doctors threaten between ten and 99 years imprisonment if they make a termination of pregnancy. Even after rape or incest, abortions are prohibited.
