Baton Rouge, LA – On Friday, a three-judge panel of the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision blocking a Louisiana statute that could make abortion services unattainable for women in Louisiana. Abortion providers sued the State, charging that the law, which holds physicians liable for any civil damages caused by an abortion, including damage to an "unborn child," for up to ten years after the procedure is performed, would essentially ban abortions in the State. The Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents the abortion providers, will continue to pursue the appeal, ensuring that the decision will not become final right away.
"By declining to consider the merits of the challenge, the court gives the State of Louisiana carte blanche to craft bans on abortion by placing enforcement power in the hands of private parties," said Priscilla Smith, acting director of the Center's domestic program and counsel for the plaintiffs.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the State of Louisiana could not be held accountable for its own law because the state itself would never sue abortion providers in the future—only women having had an abortion could bring a lawsuit. The Court stated that the case "[C]reates no apparent dispute between the plaintiffs and the State of Louisiana." The enforcement of this law, which had been blocked by a trial judge since 2001, could make abortion services unattainable for women in Louisiana.
The 1997 law, which defines an "unborn child" from the "moment of conception," holds abortion providers strictly liable for any damages to the woman or fetus caused by abortion for up to ten years after the procedure. However, due to the law’s ambiguous provisions, physicians providing abortions are singled out from all other specialists and given no guidelines on avoiding liability and are trapped by the threat of unlimited legal and financial claims. Under the statute, women can sue for up to a decade for "damage" to the fetus or any harm to themselves they believe resulted from the abortion, such as depression or regret over their decision.
Plaintiffs in Women’s Health Clinic v. State of Louisiana, including the Women’s Health Clinic, Causeway Medical Suite, Bossier City Medical Suite, Hope Medical Group for Women, and James DeGueurce, M.D., are represented by Priscilla Smith of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy and William E. Rittenberg of the New Orleans firm Rittenberg and Samuel.
