Headline: Public Information, 5/14/2024
Neelima Sukhavasi, an obstetrician from Baton Rouge, urged the members of the Louisiana House Committee on Criminal Justice to approve Boyd's bill. Sukhavasi said that since Louisiana imposed its abortion ban in 2022, "[s]he and her colleagues have delivered babies for pregnant teenagers, including mothers as young as 13." She told the committee, "[o]ne of these teenagers delivered a baby while clutching a Teddy Bear — and that's an image that once you see that, you can't unsee it." According to Sukhavasi, these girls "can experience health complications that affect them for the rest of their lives."
Nevertheless, the committee rejected Boyd's bill last week on a 7 to 4 vote. All seven Republicans on the committee voted against creating the exception for child rape victims. One legislator who voted against creating the exception, Representative Lauren Ventrella (R), said she believed "teenagers who had consensual sex might feign rape or incest in order to get access to abortion service." Another legislator in opposition, Representative Dodie Horton (R), said rape should be punished, but she "cannot condone killing the innocent."
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