2015 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 40 - Public Health and Safety
RS 40:1061.9 - Definitions

§1061.9. Definitions

            As used in R.S. 40:1061.8 through 1061.29, the following words have the following meanings:

            (1) "Abortion" or "induced abortion" means the act of using or prescribing any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance, device, or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of the unborn child. Such use, prescription, or means is not an abortion if done with the intent to:

            (a) Save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child.

            (b) Remove a dead unborn child or induce delivery of the uterine contents in case of a positive diagnosis, certified in writing in the woman's medical record along with the results of an obstetric ultrasound test, that the pregnancy has ended or is in the unavoidable and untreatable process of ending due to spontaneous miscarriage, also known in medical terminology as spontaneous abortion, missed abortion, inevitable abortion, incomplete abortion, or septic abortion.

            (c) Remove an ectopic pregnancy.

            (2) "Conception" and "fertilization" each mean the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum.

            (3) "Gestational age" means the age of the unborn child as measured by the time elapsed since the first day of the last menstrual period as determined by a physician and confirmed through the use of an ultrasound test of a quality generally used in existing medical practice.

            (4) "Good faith medical judgment" means a physician's use of reasonable care and diligence, along with his best judgment, in the application of his skill. The standard of care required of every health care provider, except a hospital, in rendering professional services or health care to a patient, shall be to exercise that degree of skill ordinarily employed, under similar circumstances, by the members of his profession in good standing in the same community or locality, but if the physician was performing abortion procedures that are considered to be included in the areas of a medical specialty, then the standard shall be that of the degree of skill ordinarily employed, under similar circumstances, by one practicing in good standing in that specialty.

            (5) "Infant" means the offspring of human parents from the moment of live birth, regardless of the duration of gestation in the womb prior to live birth.

            (6) "Live birth" or "born alive", with respect to a member of the species homo sapiens, means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of that member, at any stage of development, who after that expulsion or extraction breathes or shows signs of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached, and regardless of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion.

            (7) "Physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine in the state of Louisiana who meets the requirements of R.S. 40:1061.10.

            (8) "Pregnant" means that female reproductive condition of having a developing embryo or fetus in the uterus which commences at fertilization and implantation.

            (9) "Unborn child" or "fetus" means the unborn offspring of human beings from the moment of conception through pregnancy and until live birth.

            (10) "Viable" and "viability" each mean that stage of fetal development when, in the judgment of the physician based upon the particular facts of the case before him, and in light of the most advanced medical technology and information available to him, there is a reasonable likelihood of sustained survival of the unborn child outside the body of his mother, with or without artificial support.

            (11) "Department" means the Department of Health and Hospitals.

            Added by Acts 1978, No. 435, §1. Amended by Acts 1981, No. 774, §1, eff. July 23, 1981; Acts 1997, No. 906, §3, eff. July 10, 1997; Acts 1999, No. 1232, §1, eff. July 9, 1999; Acts 2001, No. 1110, §1, eff. June 28, 2001; Acts 2011, No. 411, §1; Acts 2013, No. 259, §1, eff. June 10, 2013; Redesignated from R.S. 40:1299.35.1 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S.