The Louisiana Senate passed the bill 34-3 on March 26, and it’s expected to pass in the House.
The initiative would include parenting classes and baby supplies such as diapers and cribs. It would also provide counseling and care coordination for mothers, referrals, and even classes on budgeting, job training, and stress management. These resources would be available to program participants for up to three years after the child’s birth.
The program services will not only be accessible for a pregnant mother; it’s meant to serve the biological father of an unborn child or even an adoptive parent of a young child (age 3 or younger).
Currently, abortion is only legal in Louisiana if the life of the mother is at risk, or if the child is diagnosed with a disability in utero or could be stillborn.
Jackson-Andrews, a pro-life Democrat who spoke at the national March for Life in Washington, D.C., in 2016, is the primary author of the bill.
She championed an amendment in 2020 that prevented Louisiana from enshrining a “right to abortion” in its state constitution and banned public funding of abortion. The Louisiana Pregnancy and Baby Initiative would be managed by a general contractor who would subcontract with existing nonprofit pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, maternity homes, and social service organizations “that promote childbirth instead of abortion,” the bill noted.
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