A bill to add the exceptions of rape and incest to Louisiana’s abortion ban failed in House Criminal Justice Committee.
The bill was personal for its author, Rep. Delisha Boyd (D-New Orleans). She told the committee how her own mother was raped for years by someone almost twice her age and pregnant at 15.
"I know that my mother never recovered from that," she said, her voice trembling. "She was dead before she was 28 years old because no one took time to take care of the child that had been violated by a predator."
Thibodaux resident Debbie Melvin was among those urging lawmakers to reject the bill. She said a woman who chooses to abort a pregnancy is choosing to traumatize herself all over again.
"By its very nature, abortion requires a violation of a woman's body. This can be like a second rape to her," she said.
But Katie Hunter Lowery with Louisiana Survivors for Reform testified about her own rape that she is still processing. She said if she had become pregnant as a result, this legislation would at least giver her a choice.
"If you are going to tell your constituents in the fall that you work to support public safety and support survivors, you have to support this bill and you cannot force survivors to carry pregnancies that were conceived through violence."
The bill failed to make it out of committee on a 10-5 vote.
