Louisiana legislators just protected their new anti-abortion laws by passing a constitutional amendment that establishes there is no implied right to abortion in the document. The move comes one week after Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, signed a heartbeat bill, which would restrict all abortions after approximately six weeks, at least if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
The amendment passed by a vote of 79-20 in the House and 33-5 in the Senate. It states that “nothing in the constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.” If the voters approve the measure on the 2020 ballot, it will be ratified into the state constitution.
While explicitly denying a so-called right to abortion that isn’t in written in the U.S. or Louisiana Constitution may seem odd, it is a necessary move. In April, the Kansas Supreme Court delivered a 6-1 decision striking down a state law that banned abortion after approximately 14 weeks. The court ruled that abortion was a “fundamental right” guaranteed by Section 1 of the Kansas Bill of Rights, which simply states, “Equal rights. All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
As you may have noticed, there’s nothing about abortion in there. But it’s hard to account for a judge’s motivated reasoning.
The Kansas Court managed to create an unenumerated right to abortion anyway, stating, “We conclude that, through the language in section 1, the state’s founders acknowledged that the people had rights that preexisted the formation of the Kansas government…Included in that limited category is the right of personal autonomy, which includes the ability to control one’s own body…decisions that can include whether to continue a pregnancy.”
The logic (or lack thereof) of the Kansas Supreme Court is inexcusable, but unfortunately, this is the political landscape that legislators have to deal with. Louisiana anti-abortion activists saw what happened in Kansas, and they’re smart to pass this amendment to keep their own liberal judges in check.
