Louisiana voters approved a bipartisan constitutional amendment declaring abortion is not a constitutionally enshrined right.
“Nothing in this constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion,” Amendment 1 reads.
According to the Associated Press, the Love Life Amendment passed 65 percent to 35 percent with almost 96 percent of the state’s precincts reporting.
🎉THANK YOU LOUISIANA🎉 for showing your overwhelming ❤️ love ❤️ for life by voting YES on Amendment #1, the Love Life Amendment protecting babies & their mothers. 👶🤰
WE ARE OVER 1 MILLION LOUISIANA VOTES FOR LIFE!
Many thanks to @KatrinaJack_Sen & so many others! pic.twitter.com/EpsYQ7kZgT
— Louisiana Right to Life (@LARighttoLife) November 4, 2020
BREAKING: @AP reports that Louisiana has passed Amendment 1, which establishes there is no constitutional right to an abortion. pic.twitter.com/JRaECGhLhe
— Catherine Hadro (@CatHadro) November 4, 2020
Pro-life Democrat State Sen. Katrina Jackson penned the amendment which was co-sponsored by people on both sides of the political aisle.
According to Jackson, the amendment grants more power to the legislators when it comes to evaluating abortion policy.
“It’s important to understand that Amendment 1 is not a ban on abortion. It simply keeps abortion policy in the hands of our legislators rather than state judges,” Jackson wrote.
“Our body of pro-life laws ensure that women are empowered with the truth about their pregnancy prior to an abortion, that minors seeking an abortion have parental consent, and that babies born alive following a botched abortion receive immediate medical care. Our law also makes sure that not a dollar of your state tax dollars fund abortion. Yet these laws and others are at risk unless we pass Amendment 1,” Jackson said.
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Denise Burke says the passage of Amendment 1 is a big victory for the pro-life community.
“Louisiana voters have reaffirmed that every innocent human life — whether born or not — is worthy of legal protection and clarified that no ‘right to abortion’ can be found in their state’s constitution,” Burke said.
“Louisiana voters have taken an important step toward strengthening a culture of life and ending abortion on demand in their state,” she added.
While many states and people on the left peddle the narrative that abortion is a constitutionally ensured right, Burke notes that killing babies is not health care, nor is it something Americans should be entitled to.
“Unfortunately, state court judges in more than a dozen other states have already invented or manufactured a state-level constitutional right to abortion where none exists,” she said. ” But the government should protect life instead of pretending that abortion is somehow healthcare.”