Strict Louisiana Abortion Bill Veto Overridden

The Louisiana Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Buddy Roemer’s veto of a tough abortion bill that would jail doctors who perform the procedure.

“I am disappointed for women and families across the state,” Roemer said. “It’s not a good bill. It’s going to be expensive to litigate, impossible to implement, totally unfair to women who have been brutalized and raped.”

Opponents of the legislation said they would immediately move in court to block its enforcement. Supporters of the bill said they hoped the court challenges would lead to reversal of the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established abortion rights.

Rep. Woody Jenkins, floor leader for an anti-abortion faction seeking a more stringent bill, said he would introduce a resolution today to suspend the measure’s exemptions for victims of rape and incest.

“The law without those exemptions would go to the Supreme Court and have a better chance than one with exceptions,” he said.

The House voted, 76 to 25, to override the veto, after suspending rules that would not have allowed debate to begin until today. The Senate’s 29-9 vote earlier Tuesday came as a surprise. The upper chamber sustained Roemer’s veto of similar legislation in 1990, after the House voted to override it.

Rep. Sam Theriot, one of the bill’s authors, said it would be effective within days, but a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, Steve Watsky, said research showed that the bill could not become law until 60 days after the Legislature adjourns on July 8.

The measure would send doctors who perform abortions to jail for up to 10 years, with fines of up to $100,000. It allows abortion to save the life of the mother. It also allows abortions, under certain strict conditions, for victims of rape and incest.

Roemer, a Democrat-turned-Republican, vetoed the measure Friday. He said that it would put too much pressure on doctors and burden rape victims.