2019 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
Title 14 - Criminal Law
§32.9. Criminal abortion

RS 32.9 - Criminal abortion

A. Criminal abortion is an abortion performed, with or without the consent of the pregnant woman or her legal guardian, that results in the death of an unborn child when the abortion is performed by any individual who is not a physician licensed by the state of Louisiana.

B. As used in this Section:

(1) "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) "Physician" means a natural person who is the holder of an allopathic (M.D.) degree or an osteopathic (D.O.) degree from a medical college in good standing with the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners who holds a license, permit, certification, or registration issued by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners to engage in the practice of medicine in this state.

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

C. Any person who knowingly performs an abortion in violation of this Section shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than one nor more than five years, fined not less than five thousand nor more than fifty thousand dollars, or both.

D. Statutory Construction. None of the following shall be construed to create the crime of criminal abortion:

(1) Any action taken when a physician or other licensed medical professional is acting in the course of administering lawful medical care and an unborn child dies.

(2) Any act taken or omission by a pregnant woman with regard to her own unborn child.

Acts 2012, No. 646, §1.