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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE BILL NO. 590
BY REPRESENTATIVES HARRIS, BERTHELOT, STUART BISHOP, BURFORD,
HENRY BURNS, CHAMPAGNE, CROMER, GEYMANN, GREENE, HODGES,
HOFFMANN, HOLLIS, HOWARD, HUVAL, MACK, POPE, SCHEXNAYDER,
SCHRODER, SEABAUGH, SIMON, AND WHITNEY
ABORTION: (Constitutional Amendment) Prohibits the use of public monies for abortion
and provision of public monies to providers of abortion except as may be required
by the federal government as a condition of federal financial participation in a public
medical assistance program
A JOINT RESOLUTION1
Proposing to add Article VII, Section 17.1 of the Constitution of Louisiana, relative to2
abortion; to establish conditional prohibitions on the use of public monies for3
abortion, and on provision of public monies to any organization that performs4
elective abortion; to provide for submission of the proposed amendment to the5
electors; and to provide for related matters.6
Section 1. Be it resolved by the Legislature of Louisiana, two-thirds of the members7
elected to each house concurring, that there shall be submitted to the electors of the state of8
Louisiana, for their approval or rejection in the manner provided by law, a proposal to add9
Article VII, Section 17.1 of the Constitution of Louisiana, to read as follows:10
§17.1. Public Monies; Uses Related to Abortion Prohibited11
A. No public monies made available to any institution, board, commission,12
department, agency, official, or employee of the state of Louisiana, or of any local13
political subdivision thereof, whether such funds are made available by the14
government of the United States, the state of Louisiana, or of a local governmental15
subdivision, or from any other public source shall be used in any way for, to assist16
in, or to provide facilities for an abortion, except when the abortion is medically17 HLS 14RS-1124 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 590
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necessary to prevent the death of the mother or when such use of monies is required1
as a condition of federal financial participation in a public medical assistance2
program.3
B. No public monies made available to any institution, board, commission,4
department, agency, official, or employee of the state of Louisiana, or of any local5
political subdivision thereof, whether such funds are made available by the6
government of the United States, the state of Louisiana, or of a local governmental7
subdivision, or from any other public source shall be provided to any organization8
that provides elective abortions, irrespective of whether the organization performs9
such abortions in this state, and of whether it performs such abortions directly or10
through an affiliate, except when such use of monies is required as a condition of11
federal financial participation in a public medical assistance program.12
C. Definitions. As used in this Article, "abortion", "affiliate", and "elective13
abortion" shall have the following meanings:14
(1) "Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing any instrument,15
medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate16
the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the17
termination by those means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the18
unborn child. Such use, prescription, or means is not an abortion if done with the19
intent to:20
(a) Save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child.21
(b) Remove a dead unborn child or induce delivery of the uterine contents22
in case of a positive diagnosis, certified in writing in the woman's medical record23
along with the results of an obstetric ultrasound test, that the pregnancy has ended24
or is in the unavoidable and untreatable process of ending due to spontaneous25
miscarriage, also known in medical terminology as spontaneous abortion, missed26
abortion, inevitable abortion, incomplete abortion, or septic abortion.27
(c) Remove an ectopic pregnancy.28 HLS 14RS-1124 ORIGINAL
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(2) "Affiliate" means means an organization, individual, or any other entity1
that has a legal relationship with another organization, individual, or any other entity,2
and such relationship is established or governed by at least one written instrument3
that demonstrates one or more of the following:4
(a) Common ownership, management, or control.5
(b) The existence of a franchise.6
(c) The granting or extension of a license or other agreement that authorizes7
common use of a brand name, trademark, service mark, or other registered8
identification mark.9
(3) "Elective abortion" means any abortion that does not meet either of the10
following criteria:11
(a) Is medically necessary to prevent the death of the mother.12
(b) Is performed on a woman when her pregnancy resulted from rape or13
incest.14
Section 2. Be it further resolved that this proposed amendment shall be submitted15
to the electors of the state of Louisiana at the statewide election to be held on November 4,16
2014.17
Section 3. Be it further resolved that on the official ballot to be used at the election,18
there shall be printed a proposition, upon which the electors of the state shall be permitted19
to vote YES or NO, to amend the Constitution of Louisiana, which proposition shall read as20
follows:21
Do you support an amendment to prohibit any public monies, whether state22
or federal, from being used for elective abortion and to prohibit public23
monies from going to any provider of elective abortion, except when such24
use of monies may be required by the federal government to continue25
Louisiana's participation in a major public health care program? (Adds26
Article VII, Section 17.1)27 HLS 14RS-1124 ORIGINAL
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DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
Harris HB No. 590
Abstract: Prohibits the use of public monies for abortion and provision of public monies
to providers of abortion except as may be required by the federal government as a
condition of federal financial participation in a public medical assistance program.
Proposed constitutional amendment prohibits the use of monies from any public source for
each of the following purposes, except when such use is required as a condition of federal
financial participation in a public medical assistance program:
(1)To provide in any way for, to assist in, or to provide facilities for an abortion.
(2)To fund any organization that provides elective abortions, irrespective of whether the
organization performs such abortions in this state, and of whether it performs such
abortions directly or through an affiliate.
Proposed constitutional amendment provides that for purposes of proposed constitutional
amendment, the following definitions of "abortion", "affiliate", and "elective abortion"
apply:
(1)"Abortion" means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or
any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically
diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those
means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child. Such
use, prescription, or means is not an abortion if done with the intent to:
(a)Save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child.
(b)Remove a dead unborn child or induce 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.
(c)Remove an ectopic pregnancy.
(2)"Affiliate" means means an organization, individual, or any other entity that has a
legal relationship with another organization, individual, or any other entity, and such
relationship is established or governed by at least one written instrument that
demonstrates one or more of the following:
(a)Common ownership, management, or control.
(b)The existence of a franchise.
(c)The granting or extension of a license or other agreement that authorizes
common use of a brand name, trademark, service mark, or other registered
identification mark. HLS 14RS-1124 ORIGINAL
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(3)"Elective abortion" means any abortion that does not meet either of the following
criteria:
(a)Is medically necessary to prevent the death of the mother.
(b)Is performed on a woman when her pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.
Provides for submission of the proposed amendment to the voters at the statewide election
to be held November 4, 2014.
(Adds Const. Art. VII, §17.1)