After Roe Fell: U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Illegal

Louisiana

Louisiana is enforcing its trigger ban which prohibits abortion entirely and includes civil and criminal penalties.

State Legal Details

Bans in Effect

  • Gestational Ban, 22-week LMP
  • Gestational Ban, Total Ban
  • Gestational Ban, Viability
  • Method Ban
  • Reason Ban
  • Telemedicine Ban
  • Trigger Ban

Restrictions in Effect

  • Biased Counseling Requirement
  • Mandatory Ultrasound Requirement
  • Parental Involvement, Parental Consent Requirement
  • TRAP Requirements: Facilities, Facility Requirements
  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Reporting Requirement
  • Waiting Period Requirement

Restrictions

On June 24, 2022, Louisiana began enforcing its trigger ban, which prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy,1 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.2 The trigger ban was challenged in state court,3, but the lawsuit was dismissed,4 and the ban is in effect.

Louisiana has not repealed other laws related to abortion. Louisiana law retains gestational bans at six weeks LMP, fifteen weeks LMP,  twenty weeks gestational age, and post-viability.5  State law prohibits medication abortion, 6 D&X and D&E procedures,7 and abortions after twenty-weeks gestational age sought for reasons of disability.8 Louisiana law continues to include requirements that pregnant people who seek abortion care must undergo a mandatory seventy-two hour waiting period; biased counseling; and an ultrasound;9 prohibitions on public funding,10 and private insurance coverage.11 It continues to require that a parent, legal guardian,12 or judge in the minor’s parish13 consent to a minor’s abortion.

In 2020, Louisiana exploited the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to ban abortion care, issuing an executive order14 that purported to suspend procedures deemed “non-emergency” by the state. This order contradicted major medical groups in the United States and around the world, which agree that abortion is essential and time sensitive health care.15 During the pendency of the lawsuit, the parties were able to reach an agreement allowing abortion care to proceed during COVID.16

Louisiana retains targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws, including requirements related to facilities;17 admitting privileges (which were permanently enjoined prior to Dobbs);18 and reporting.19 Louisiana law continues to restrict the provision of abortion care to licensed physicians20 and restricts providers from using telemedicine for the provision of abortion care.21 Providers who violate Louisiana’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.22

In 2023, Louisiana enacted a law that gives people a tax credit if they donate to crisis pregnancy centers.23

State Protections

Louisiana law does not include express constitutional or statutory protections for abortion. To the contrary, in 2020, Louisiana voters approved an amendment to the state constitution, specifying that the constitution does not protect abortion or require funding for abortion care. 24

Post-Roe Prohibitions

In 2022, Louisiana enacted a trigger ban that prohibits abortion of all stages of pregnancy, amending the trigger ban originally enacted in 2006 .25 The trigger ban is being challenged in state district court but remains in effect. 3 Louisiana retains a statute that prohibits abortion, although federal courts have found it repealed by implication and, once the legislature amended and reenacted it, unconstitutional.27

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, Louisiana is enforcing its trigger ban which prohibits abortion entirely and includes civil and criminal penalties.

  1. LA. Stat. Ann. u00a7u00a7 40.87.7, 14.87.8, 40:1061. Jeff Landry (@AGJeffLandry), Twitter (June 24, 2022, 10:37 AM), https://twitter.com/AGJeffLandry/status/1540343439086190592?s=20&t=4bAuVOqaRblZdVvDuboLHQ ↩︎
  2. Dobbs v. Jackson Womenu2019s Health Org., 597 U.S (June 24, 2022), revu2019d Dobbs v. Jackson Womenu2019s Health Org., 945 F.3d 265, 274 (5th Cir. 2019). ↩︎
  3. June Med. Servs. et al. v. Landry, No. C-720988 La. East Baton Rouge Par. Civ. Dist. Ct. ↩︎
  4. June Med. Sevs. Et al v. Landry, No. C-720988 (La. East Baton Rouge Par. Civ. Dist. Ct. Mar. 4, 2024) (joint motion for substitution and voluntary dismissal). ↩︎
  5. LA. Stat. Ann. u00a7u00a7 1061.1.3, 14:87, 40:1061.1(D)u2013(G), 40:1061.13. ↩︎
  6. 2022 La. Sess. Law Serv. Act 548 (S.B. 388). ↩︎
  7. LA. STAT. ANN u00a7 40:1061.1.1; id. u00a7 40:1061.28. ↩︎
  8. Id. u00a7 40:1061.1.2. ↩︎
  9. La. Stat. Ann. u00a7 40:1061.16; La. Stat. Ann. u00a7u00a7 40:1061.17, 40:1061.10; La. Stat. Ann. u00a7 40:1061.11.1, Pregnant people who live one hundred fifty miles or more from the nearest abortion provider are subjected to a twenty-four-hour waiting period. See La. Stat. Ann. u00a7 40:1061.16. ↩︎
  10. Id. u00a7 40:1061.6. Rape and incest claims must be reported to law enforcement. See id. u00a7 40:1061.18. ↩︎
  11. LA. STAT. ANN. u00a7 22:1014(B). ↩︎
  12. Id. u00a7 40:1061.14. ↩︎
  13. Id. u00a7u00a7 40:1061.14(B), 40:1061.21(A)(5)(c). ↩︎
  14. La. Dep’t of Health, Healthcare Facility Notice/Order #2020-COVID19-All-007 (Mar. 21, 2020) ↩︎
  15. See Joint Statement on Abortion Access During the COVID-19 Outbreak, Am. Coll. Obstetrics & Gynecology (Mar. 18, 2020); Disaster Risk Management for Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health, World Health Org. (May 2011); Safe Abortion Care in the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings, Inter-Agency Working Grp. (Dec. 19, 2019) ↩︎
  16. June Medical Services v. Russo, No. 3:20-cv-229-JWD (M.D. La. 2020). ↩︎
  17. LA. STAT. ANN. u00a7 40:2175.4. ↩︎
  18. Id. u00a7 40:1061.10; See June Medical Services v. Russo, No. 3:14-cv-00525-JWD-RLB (M.D. La. 2022) (order vacating permanent injunction); June Med. Servs. v. Russo, 140 S. Ct. 2103, 207 L. Ed. 2d 566 (2020), abrogated by Dobbs v. Jackson Womenu2019s Health Org., 597 U.S. (June 24, 2022). ↩︎
  19. LA. STAT. ANN. u00a7 40:1061.21(C). ↩︎
  20. Id. u00a7 40: 1061.10. ↩︎
  21. Id. u00a7 40:1061.11. ↩︎
  22. Id. u00a7u00a7 14:87.7, 14:87.8, 40:1061.29. ↩︎
  23. S.B. 41, 2023 Leg., Reg. Sess. (La. 2023). ↩︎
  24. LA. SEC’Y OF STATE, Statement of Proposed Constitutional Amendments November 3, 2020 ↩︎
  25. 2022 La. Sess. Law Serv. Act 545 (S.B. 342). LA. Stat. Ann. u00a7 40:1061, formerly id. u00a7 140:1299.30. ↩︎
  26. June Med. Servs. et al. v. Landry, No. C-720988 La. East Baton Rouge Par. Civ. Dist. Ct. ↩︎
  27. Weeks v. Connick, 733 F. Supp. 1036, 1039 (E.D. La. 1990) (holding that pre-Roe criminal abortion statutes, LA. Stat. Ann. u00a7u00a7 14:87, 87.4, 88, were repealed by implication). Sojourner v. Roemer, 772 F. Supp. 930, 931 (E.D. La. 1991),u00a0aff’d sub nom.u00a0Sojourner T v. Edwards, 974 F.2d 27 (5th Cir. 1992) cert denied, 507 U.S. 972, 113 S. Ct. 1414, 122 L. Ed. 2d 785 (1993) (holding LA. Stat. Ann. u00a7u00a7 14:87 unconstitutional after reenactment). ↩︎