The Democratic Governor of Louisiana [1], John Bel Edwards, has promised to sign legislation that would prohibit abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected which occurs as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
The bill is sponsored by Democratic state Sen. John Milkovich and has received little public opposition from lawmakers of any stripe as it steadily advances. The Louisiana bill includes an exception if the pregnant woman’s health is in “serious risk,” but not for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.
It is similar to laws passed in other states such as Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio and Alabama that have been the focus of public protests.
The Governor has always been a public advocate of pro-life policies with his position based in part on personal experience. When his wife was 20 weeks pregnant with their first child, a doctor discovered their daughter had spina bifida and encouraged an abortion. The Edwardses refused. Now, daughter Samantha is married and working as a school counselor, and Edwards finds himself an outlier in polarized abortion politics.
“My position hasn’t changed. In eight years in the Legislature, I was a pro-life legislator,” he said. When he ran for governor, his view was the same. “I’m as consistent as I can be on that point.”