Legal Retrogression and the Harms of Louisiana’s Near Total Abortion Bans: A Report to the Human Rights Committee 139 Session, United States

This human rights “shadow report,” jointly submitted by four organizations to the UN Human Rights Committee, represents early findings from fact-finding research underway in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana, where abortion is prohibited at all stages of pregnancy with few exceptions. The documented experiences of health care providers, patients, and community-based organizations capture the array of harms that Louisiana’s abortion bans have caused its residents in violation of their rights to life, equality, privacy, information, and to be free from torture and ill-treatment.