A Louisiana legislative committee on Wednesday advanced a bill to make abortion a crime of homicide in which the mother or those assisting her in terminating the pregnancy can be charged.
The measure cleared the House Appropriations Committee on a 7-2 vote despite at least one of the representatives voting in favor acknowledging the bill is unconstitutional.
Rep. Danny McCormick said his House Bill 813 should move forward even though the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to overturn Roe v. Wade that guarantees abortion rights as soon as June, according to an opinion leaked from the high court this week.
"We can't wait on the Supreme Court," said McCormick, a Republican from Oil City.
McCormick's bill says the unborn should be protected at fertilization.
He said the Rev. Brian Gunter of First Baptist Church in Livingston helped author the bill.
"No compromises; no more waiting," Gunter said. "The bloodshed in our land is so great we have a duty ... to protect the least of these among us."
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The measure now goes to the full House for debate.