HLS 24RS-198 ORIGINAL
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 63
BY REPRESENTATIVE NEWELL
ABORTION: Amends definitions relative to the crime of abortion
1 AN ACT
2To amend and reenact R.S. 14:87.1(1)(b)(ii), (iii), and (v), (6), and (19)(a), relative to the
3 crime of abortion; to amend certain definitions; and to provide for related matters.
4Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
5 Section 1. R.S. 14:87.1(1)(b)(ii), (iii), and (v), (6), and (19)(a) are hereby amended
6and reenacted to read as follows:
7 ยง87.1. 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 process of ending due
20 to spontaneous miscarriage, also known in medical terminology as spontaneous
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1 abortion, missed abortion, inevitable abortion, incomplete abortion, or septic
2 abortion, including a spontaneous, profound, and irremediable complication of the
3 pregnancy that makes the carriage to term of the unborn child unlikely due to the
4 profound and irremediable spontaneous complication.
5 (iii) The removal of an ectopic pregnancy or any variant of a molar
6 pregnancy, whether through surgery or medical treatment.
7 * * *
8 (v) The performance of a medical procedure necessary in good faith medical
9 judgment or reasonable medical judgment to prevent the death or substantial risk of
10 death to the pregnant woman due to a physical condition, or to prevent the serious,
11 permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ of a pregnant woman, including but
12 not limited to treatment of cancer or blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia and
13 hemophilia. However, the physician shall make reasonable medical efforts under the
14 circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child
15 in a manner consistent with reasonable medical practice.
16 * * *
17 (6) "Contraceptive" means any device, measure, drug, chemical, endometrial
18 implantation modification, or product, including single-ingredient levonorgestrel,
19 that has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the
20 purpose of preventing pregnancy and is intended to be administered prior to the time
21 when a clinically diagnosable pregnancy can be determined, provided that the
22 contraceptive is sold, prescribed, or administered in accordance with manufacturer's
23 instructions.
24 * * *
25 (19)(a) "Medically futile" means that, in reasonable medical judgment as
26 certified by two physicians, the unborn child has a profound and irremediable
27 congenital or chromosomal anomaly that is incompatible with sustaining life after
28 birth, or a spontaneous, profound, and irremediable complication of the pregnancy
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HB NO. 63
1 that makes the carriage to term of the unborn child unlikely due to the profound and
2 irremediable spontaneous complication.
3 * * *
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 63 Original 2024 Regular Session Newell
Abstract: Amends definitions relative to the crime of abortion.
Present law provides for the crime of abortion.
Present law provides that abortion is not the removal of an ectopic pregnancy.
Proposed law retains present law and adds that removal of an ectopic pregnancy through
surgery or treatment is not an abortion.
Present law provides that treatment of an ectopic pregnancy with methotrexate is not
considered an abortion.
Proposed law removes this exception.
Present law provides that abortion is not 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.
Proposed law retains present law and adds a provision for the treatment of cancer or blood
disorders such as sickle cell anemia and hemophilia.
Present law further provides that a 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.
Proposed law removes this provision of present law.
Present law defines "clinically diagnosable pregnancy" as a pregnancy that is capable of
being verified by one of the following conventional medical testing methods, whether or not
any testing was in fact performed by any person:
(1)A blood or urine test, whether used at home or in a medical setting, that tests for the
human pregnancy hormone known as human chorionic gonadotropin that medically
indicates that implantation has occurred.
(2)An ultrasound examination.
Proposed law retains present law and provides that a molar pregnancy, and any variant
thereof, shall not be a clinically diagnosable pregnancy.
Present law defines "contraceptive" as any device, measure, drug, chemical, or product,
including single-ingredient levonorgestrel, that has been approved by the United States Food
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HB NO. 63
and Drug Administration for the purpose of preventing pregnancy and is intended to be
administered prior to the time when a clinically diagnosable pregnancy can be determined,
provided that the contraceptive is sold, prescribed, or administered in accordance with
manufacturer's instructions.
Proposed law amends the present law definition of "contraceptive" to add endometrial
implantation modification.
Present law defines "medically futile"as in reasonable medical judgment as certified by two
physicians, the unborn child has a profound and irremediable congenital or chromosomal
anomaly that is incompatible with sustaining life after birth.
Proposed law retains present law and adds to this definition or a spontaneous, profound, and
irremedial complication of the pregnancy that makes the carriage to term of the unborn child
likely due to the profound and irremediable spontaneous complication.
(Amends R.S. 14:87.1(1)(b)(ii), (iii), and (v), (6), and (19)(a))
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