HLS 23RS-795 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 461
BY REPRESENTATIVE DUBUISSON
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
ABORTION: Provides relative to exceptions to abortion
1 AN ACT
2To amend and reenact R.S. 14:87.1(1)(b)(ii) and R.S. 40:1061(I), relative to abortion; to
3 provide relative to the definition of abortion; to provide for exceptions to abortion;
4 and to provide for related matters.
5Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 14:87.1(1)(b)(ii) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
7 §87.1. Definitions
8 Wherever used in this Subpart, unless a different meaning clearly appears in
9 the context, the following terms, whether used in the singular or plural, shall have
10 the following meanings:
11 (1)
12 * * *
13 (b) Abortion shall not mean any one or more of the following acts, if
14 performed by a physician:
15 * * *
16 (ii) The removal of a dead unborn child or the inducement or delivery of the
17 uterine contents in case of a positive diagnosis, certified in writing in the woman's
18 medical record along with the results of an obstetric ultrasound test, that the
19 pregnancy has ended or is in the unavoidable and untreatable The performance of
20 a medical procedure to treat a patient who has been diagnosed, in good faith medical
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1 judgment and certified in writing in the woman's medical record, with a pregnancy
2 that has ended or is in the process of ending due to spontaneous miscarriage, also
3 known in medical terminology as spontaneous abortion, missed abortion, inevitable
4 abortion, incomplete abortion, or septic abortion, or a medical procedure to treat a
5 patient who has, in good faith medical judgment and certified in writing in the
6 woman's medical record, been diagnosed with a complication that renders the
7 pregnancy nonviable.
8 * * *
9 Section 2. R.S. 40:1061(I) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
10 §1061. Abortion; prohibition
11 * * *
12 I. The terms as used in this Section have the same meaning as the definitions
13 provided in R.S. 14:87.1. It shall not be a violation of this Section to perform any
14 act or procedure that is not a violation of R.S. 14:87.7 or R.S. 14:87.8, as defined by
15 R.S. 14:87.1.
16 * * *
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)]
HB 461 Original 2023 Regular Session DuBuisson
Abstract: Provides for exceptions to abortion.
Present law (R.S. 14:87.1) provides for the definition of "abortion" and various other terms.
Proposed law retains present law.
Present law (R.S. 14:87.1(b)) provides for a list of acts that do not constitute an abortion
when performed by a physician.
Present law further provides that one of these acts as provided in present law (R.S.
14:87.1(b)(ii)) is 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 the obstetric ultrasound test, that the pregnancy has ended
or is in the unavoidable and untreatable process of ending due to spontaneous miscarriage.
Proposed law amends present law (R.S. 14:87.1(b)(ii)) to provide that an abortion is not the
performance of a medical procedure to treat a patient who has been diagnosed, in good faith
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
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HB NO. 461
medical judgment and certified in writing in the woman's medical record, with a pregnancy
that has ended or is in the process of ending due to spontaneous miscarriage, also known in
medical terminology as spontaneous abortion, missed abortion, inevitable abortion,
incomplete abortion, or septic abortion,
Proposed law provides an exception for a medical procedure that treats a patient who has,
in good faith medical judgment and certified in writing in the woman's medical record, been
diagnosed with a complication that renders the pregnancy nonviable.
Present law (R.S. 40:1061) provides for a prohibition on abortion and provides for penalties.
Proposed law retains present law.
Present law provides that the terms used in present law (R.S. 40:1061) have the same
meaning as the definitions provided in present law (R.S. 14:87.1).
Proposed law amends present law to provide that it shall not be a violation of present law
R.S. 40:1061) to perform any act or procedure that is not a violation of present law (R.S.
14:87.7 or R.S. 14:87.8), as defined by present law (R.S. 14:87.1).
(Amends R.S. 14:87.1(1)(b)(ii) and R.S. 40:1061(I))
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.