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State lawmakers in Louisiana made changes to a controversial bill that would've classified abortion as a homicide.
On Thursday (May 12), lawmakers in the House toned down language within House Bill 813 which originally would've allowed people who got abortions to be criminally charged for terminating their pregnancies.
The bill was first proposed by state Rep. Danny McCormick, a Republican, who changed the definition of a person to also include an unborn child "from the moment of fertilization." The proposed legislation grew a lot of widespread criticism –– even from anti-abortion groups.
Rep. Alan Seabaugh proposed an amendment to the bill this week, erasing McCormick's language and replacing it with wording similar to a Senate bill that passed last week in the Louisiana Senate.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who opposes abortion, called the legislation "radical."
"In addition to the fact that this legislation is patently unconstitutional, the bill would criminalize the use of certain types of contraception, as well as parts of the in-vitro fertilization process, and it could even serve as a barrier to life-saving medical treatment for a woman who is suffering a miscarriage," Edwards said in a statement.
"To suggest that a woman would be jailed for an abortion is simply absurd."
The legislation comes amid a flurry of state anti-abortion bills following the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that pointed to a potential overturning of Roe v. Wade.
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