Abortion

What is Abortion?

In accordance with R.S: 14: §87.1

"Abortion" or "induced abortion" means the performance of any act with the intent to terminate a clinically diagnosable pregnancy with knowledge that the termination by those means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child, whether or not the child survives, by one or more of the following means:

  1. Administering, prescribing, or providing any abortion-inducing drug, potion, medicine, or any other substance, device, or means to a pregnant female.
  2. Using an instrument or external force on a pregnant female.

Abortion shall not mean any one or more of the following acts, if performed by a physician:

  1. A medical procedure performed with the intention to save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child.
  2. The removal of a dead unborn child or the inducement or delivery of the uterine contents in case of a positive diagnosis, certified in writing in the woman's medical record along with the results of an obstetric ultrasound test, that the pregnancy has ended or is in the unavoidable and untreatable process of ending due to spontaneous miscarriage, also known in medical terminology as spontaneous abortion, missed abortion, inevitable abortion, incomplete abortion, or septic abortion.
  3. The removal of an ectopic pregnancy.
  4. The use of methotrexate to treat an ectopic pregnancy.
  5. The performance of a medical procedure necessary in good faith medical judgment or reasonable medical judgment to prevent the death or substantial risk of death to the pregnant woman due to a physical condition, or to prevent the serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ of a pregnant woman. However, the physician shall make reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child in a manner consistent with reasonable medical practice.
  6. The removal of an unborn child who is deemed to be medically futile. The diagnosis shall be a medical judgment certified by two qualified physicians and recorded in the woman's medical record. The medical procedure shall be performed in a licensed ambulatory surgical center or hospital. Upon the completion of the procedure, the physician shall submit an individual abortion report consistent with R.S. 40:1061.21 that includes appropriate evidence of the certified diagnosis.

Also, R.S. 14§87.9. provides for criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, which states:

Criminal abortion by means of an abortion-inducing drug is committed when a person knowingly causes an abortion to occur by means of delivering, dispensing, distributing, or providing a pregnant woman with an abortion-inducing drug.

Any person who knowingly performs an abortion by means of an abortion-inducing drug in violation of this Section shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than one nor more than five years, fined not less than five thousand nor more than fifty thousand dollars, or both.

Any person who knowingly performs an abortion by means of an abortion-inducing drug in violation of this Section that results in the death or serious bodily injury of the pregnant woman shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than five nor more than ten years, fined not less than ten thousand nor more than seventy-five thousand dollars, or both.

Any person who knowingly performs or induces an abortion that results in the death or serious bodily injury of a pregnant woman under the age of eighteen in violation of this Section shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than fifteen nor more than fifty years, fined not less than fifteen thousand nor more than one hundred thousand dollars, or both.

None of the following shall be construed to create the crime of criminal abortion by means of an abortion-inducing drug:

  1. Any action taken when a physician or other licensed medical professional is acting in the course of administering lawful medical care.
  2. Any act taken or omission by a pregnant woman with regard to her own unborn child.
  3. Possessing for her own consumption or consuming an abortion-inducing drug by a pregnant woman in violation of this Section.
  4. Lawfully prescribing, dispensing, or distributing a drug, medicine, or other substance for a bona fide medical reason that is not intended to cause an abortion in violation of this Section.
    1. The act of administering an abortion-inducing drug when the drug is administered by a physician licensed by the state of Louisiana who administers the abortion-inducing drug in person to the pregnant woman.
    2. The provisions of Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall not be a defense against prosecution under any other provision of law that makes the abortion unlawful, whether the other provision of law is in effect on August 1, 2022, or becomes unlawful at a later date.
  5. Any act by a licensed pharmacist or pharmacy related to filling a prescription for a drug, medicine, or other substance prescribed for a bona fide medical reason shall not subject the pharmacist or the pharmacy to the criminal consequences of this Section. A diagnosis or a diagnosis code shall be written on the prescription by the prescriber indicating that the drug, medicine, or other substance is intended for a purpose other than to cause an abortion in violation of this Section.

Also R.S. §1061.1.5 states the following:

  1. Prior to any abortion being performed, there shall first be performed an ultrasound, in accordance with the standards set forth in R.S. 40:1061.10(D), in order to determine whether or not a fetal heartbeat is present, and the results of the ultrasound shall be included in the pregnant woman's medical records.
    1. Except as provided in Paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of this Subsection, it shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly perform an abortion with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being when a fetal heartbeat has been detected. Any person who acts based on the exceptions provided in Paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of this Subsection shall so note in the pregnant woman's medical records and shall specify in the pregnant woman's medical records which of the exceptions the person performing the abortion has invoked.
  2. A person shall not be in violation of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection if the person performs a medical procedure designed to or intended, in that person's reasonable medical judgment, to prevent the death of a pregnant woman or to prevent a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.
    1. A person who performs a medical procedure as described in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall declare in writing, under penalty of perjury, that the medical procedure was necessary, to the best of that person's reasonable medical judgment, to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman. The person shall also provide in that written statement the specific medical condition of the pregnant woman that the medical procedure was performed to address, and the medical rationale for the conclusion that the medical procedure was necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman.
      1. The person who performs a medical procedure as described in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall place the written documentation required by this Subparagraph in the pregnant woman's medical records, and shall maintain a copy of the written documentation for not less than seven years.
  3. A person shall not be in violation of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection if the person has performed an examination for the presence of a fetal heartbeat in the unborn human individual using standard medical practice and that examination does not reveal a fetal heartbeat, or the person has been informed by a physician who has performed the examination for a fetal heartbeat that the examination did not reveal a fetal heartbeat.
  4. For purposes of this Section, "abortion" shall not include an abortion performed when the pregnancy is diagnosed as medically futile.
  5. Whoever violates this Section shall be prosecuted pursuant to the effective provisions of R.S. 14:87.7 and shall be subject to the penalties provided in R.S. 40:1061.29.
  6. In addition to any other grounds provided by law, it shall be grounds for the nonissuance, suspension, revocation, or restriction of a license, or the denial of reinstatement or renewal of a license, issued by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, that the applicant or licensee has performed an abortion in violation of this Section.
  7. This Section shall not be construed to repeal any other provision of law that restricts or regulates the performance of an abortion by a particular method or during a particular stage of a pregnancy.

Note: The drugs known as Mifeprestine and Misoprostol have been added to the Schedule IV list of drugs in accordance with Act 246 of the 2024 Legislative Session. Mifepristone and Misoprostol may be utilized in Louisiana hospitals to treat postpartum hemorrhage and incomplete miscarriages in accordance with R.S. 14:87.9(C)(6), and in compliance with Louisiana laws and regulations. A hospital may include Mifepristone and Misoprostol in a secured automated medication dispensing/delivery system, such as the Pyxis system. Such systems are allowed in hospital emergency departments, labor and delivery units/rooms, operating units/rooms, and other floors/units/rooms of a hospital as deemed appropriate by the hospital. Further, a hospital may authorize certain scheduled drugs to be included in a locked or secured area of an obstetric hemorrhage cart or "crash cart". Such authorization should be approved by the hospital's Chief Medical Officer and its Director of Pharmacy; additionally, such approval and process should be included in a hospital's pharmacy policy and procedures manual.

Other Options

  • The father of your child is liable to assist in the support of that child. The law permits adoptive parents to pay costs of prenatal care, childbirth and neonatal care.
  • "There are many public and private agencies willing and able to help you to carry your child to term. 
  • They also will assist you and your child after your child's birth, whether you choose to keep your child or to place him or her up for adoption. 
  • The father of a child has a legal duty to provide for the support, educational, medical and other needs of that child. That duty can include child support payments to the child's mother.
  • A child has rights of inheritance from his or her father and may be eligible through him for benefits such as life insurance, Social Security, pension, veteran's or disability benefits. Further, the child will be aware of his or her medical history. Paternity can be established in either of two ways:
  • The father can acknowledge the child by signing the birth certificate and a written declaration before a notary public and two witnesses; or an action can be brought in court.

Information and Resources

More information concerning paternity establishment and child support may be obtained from the regional office of the State Department of Social Services, Office of Family Support, Division of Support Services, which serves your parish. Other information may be obtained from your parish district attorney's office. Telephone numbers for both offices may be found in the accompanying directory.

Reference

  • R.S. §14:87.1 et. seq.
  • R.S. §1061.1.5

Surgeon General Ralph L. Abraham, M.D.

Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein

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