La. R.S. § 40:1061.17 Woman's Right to Know

• Library: Louisiana Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current with changes from the 2023 Legislative Session
• Year: 2023
• Citation: La. R.S. § 40:1061.17

A. Legislative findings and purposes. The Legislature of Louisiana finds that:

(1) Act No. 435 of the 1978 Regular Session of the Legislature required the obtaining of the informed consent of a pregnant woman to the performance of an abortion. This law was declared unconstitutional in the cases of Margaret S. v. Edwards, and in Margaret S. v. Treen.

(2) By Act No. 435 of the 1978 Regular Session of the Legislature (R.S. 40:1061.18) a twenty-four-hour waiting period was required between the signing of an informed consent and the performance of an abortion. This law was repealed by Act No. 418 of the 1980 Regular Session of the Legislature because of the decision of the federal court in Margaret S. v. Edwards.

(3) Subsequent to the above-referenced court decisions and legislative enactments, the United States Supreme Court has rendered a decision in the case of Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania v. Casey, which upheld the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania law which required informed consent, parental consent, and a twenty-four-hour waiting period prior to an abortion, and which decision has therefore impliedly overruled the decisions in the Margaret S. cases.

(4) The judicial obstacles to such legislation now having been removed by virtue of the Casey decision, the legislature finds that it is in the public interest and in furtherance of the general health and welfare of the citizens of this state to reenact provisions of law similar to those heretofore either declared unconstitutional or repealed for the following reasons:

(a) It is essential to the psychological and physical well-being of a woman considering an abortion that she receive complete and accurate information regarding her alternatives.

(b) The knowledgeable exercise of a woman's decision to have an abortion depends on the extent to which the woman receives sufficient information to make an informed choice between two alternatives, giving birth or having an abortion.

(c) The vast majority of all abortions are performed in clinics devoted solely to providing abortions and family planning services. Most women who seek abortions at these facilities do not have any relationship with the physician who performs the abortion, before or after the procedure. They do not return to the facility for postsurgical care. In most instances, the woman's only actual contact with the physician occurs simultaneously with the abortion procedure, with little opportunity to receive counseling concerning her decision.

(d) The decision to abort "is an important, and often a stressful one, and it is desirable and imperative that it be made with full knowledge of its nature and consequences", Planned Parenthood v. Danforth.

(e) "The medical, emotional, and psychological consequences of an abortion are serious and can be lasting...", H. L. v. Matheson.

(f) Abortion facilities or providers offer only limited and/or impersonal counseling opportunities.

(g) Many abortion facilities or providers hire untrained and unprofessional "counselors" whose primary goal is to sell abortion services.

(5) Based on the above findings, it is the purpose of this Act to:

(a) Ensure that every woman considering an abortion receive complete information on her alternatives and that every woman submitting to an abortion do so only after giving her voluntary and informed consent to the abortion procedure.

(b) Protect unborn children from a woman's uninformed decision to have an abortion.

(c) Reduce "the risk that a woman may elect an abortion only to discover later, with devastating psychological consequences, that her decision was not fully informed", Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

(d) Ensure that every woman considering an abortion receive complete information regarding the availability of anesthesia or analgesics that would eliminate or alleviate organic pain to the unborn child that could be caused by the particular method of abortion to be employed.

B. Informed consent; requirements. After a woman is determined to be pregnant, no abortion shall be performed or induced without the voluntary and informed consent of the woman upon whom the abortion is to be performed or induced. Except in the case of a medical emergency, consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed if and only if:

(1) The provisions of R.S. 40:1061.10 requiring an ultrasound test and determination of viability are met.

(2) The information required by this Section to be communicated orally and in person to the woman is provided to her individually and in a private room to protect her privacy, for the purpose of ensuring that the information focuses on her individual circumstances and that she has an adequate opportunity to ask questions.

(3)

(a) [Oral] Written information from the physician. Except as provided in Subparagraph [(b)](c) of this Paragraph, at least seventy-two hours before the abortion, the physician who is to perform the abortion or the referring physician has informed the woman, in writing and read orally and in person of:

(i) The name of the physician who meets the requirements of R.S.

46:1061.10(A) and who will perform the abortion, which shall be listed in the same manner as the name appears on the membership roll of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners.

(ii) The location and specialty of the physician's residency and whether the residency of the physician has been completed.

(iii) Whether the physician is currently [board certified] board-certified and, if so, the medical specialty and the certifying organization.

(iv) Whether the physician has active admitting privileges at any hospital that provides obstetrical or gynecological healthcare services and, if so, the name of the hospital or hospitals. For purposes of this Subparagraph, "active admitting privileges" means that the physician is a member in good standing of the medical staff of a hospital that is currently licensed by the Department of Health, with the ability to admit a patient and to provide diagnostic and surgical services to such patient.