The End to Abortion? Another Louisiana Nightmare

With little fanfare and recognition, a new bill has made its way through the Louisiana Legislature. While thousands in my state have found themselves unemployed and unable to feed their families due to the effects of this oil disaster, the Louisiana legislature has found something they believe more important to focus on: abortion. 

As the resident of one of the most anti-choice states in the U.S., I am never surprised by how easily anti-abortion bills are passed in this state Take, for example, the bill (now law) passed last week and signed by Gov. Jindal forcing all women to view an ultrasound before their abortion. As if women weren’t really sure what they were aborting… because in Louisiana, women aren’t considered intelligent or capable enough to make medical decisions for themselves without serious state intervention. 

But the Louisiana legislature has finally found a back-door way to end abortion that doesn’t come under Roe v. Wade scrutiny, or PP vs. Casey, or any other Supreme Court ruling on abortion. 

Instead of chipping away at abortion access through regulation of clinics, minors, and informed consent procedures, the Louisiana legislature is going to ban state or private medical malpractice coverage on any doctor who is performing “elective” abortions.

As the niece of a medical malpractice lawyer (who represents doctors), I can see this is a nightmare. OB/GYN’s already have the really expensive med mal insurance. Babies and pregnancy are high risk, and often involve lots of lawsuits. A doctor without med mal is a sitting duck. One lawsuit, and that doctor could lose his or her practice to paying legal fees and damages. A lawsuit without insurance protection could mean very personal damages, such as losing their house and other possessions to pay for the plaintiff’s damages. Insurance protects from that kind of loss.

Med mal insurance is as important for patients as it is for doctors — doctors make mistakes, and medical mistakes can be extremely expensive — what if a patient becomes disabled from a botched procedure? or has to have another surgery? Patients need to know that they have some protection and recourse through the legal system if their doctor makes a mistake.

Either way, I am doubtful any doctor would perform a surgical procedure without medical malpractice insurance simply because the financial and legal risks are too great. I don’t know if doctors could get med mal from an out-of-state provider? Is that a possibility? Or could national organizations like PP (which has two Louisiana clinics) find a way around this bill? I don’t know. But doctor-owned local clinics which provide abortions for north Louisiana, where I grew up 200 miles from the nearest Planned Parenthood, could be completely shut down by this law.

So much for “smaller government” and “less regulation” in a Republican state. Isn’t that what Jindal is calling for? And while the Legislature is spending their time worrying about abortion, thousands of people in South LA are trying to feed their families… especially since the state has made NO move to help pay for higher unemployment, food stamps, and social services required by families affected by the oil disaster.

The Louisiana Legislature definitely has their priorities in order… they’re too busy trampling on women’s rights to bother helping anyone in this state.