Proposal to charge women who abort with murder dropped from Louisiana bill

The sponsor of a Louisiana House bill that would have subjected women to murder charges for having abortions yanked the proposal from debate Thursday night after members overwhelmingly voted to completely revamp the legislation.

The bill would have been more extreme than any of the recently passed abortion laws in any other state: Women who ended their pregnancies would have been subject to criminal homicide prosecutions.

"This is a thorny political question, but we all know that it is actually very simple. Abortion is murder," GOP Rep. Danny McCormick, the bill sponsor, said on the House floor.

The measure has drawn significant opposition from pro-abortion supporters in the state, including Gov. John Bel Edwards, who said he would veto the bill.

Other in opposition included Louisiana Right to Life, the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Right to Life Committee.

The proposal was pulled Thursday after lawmakers broken into groups in an attempt to find some compromise on the legislation. 

Though McCormick's bill, which also appeared to outlaw contraceptive devices and some aspects of in vitro fertilization, will likely not move forward in the state House, a twin bill in the Senate could still advance.