As the first bills trickled in Thursday for Louisiana's upcoming legislative session, among them is proposed legislation that would allow mothers to “recover” 50% of out-of-pocket pregnancy-related medical expenses from the father of their child.
House Bill 5, which Republican state Rep. Larry Frieman pre-filed Thursday, is of particular interest in Louisiana where there is a near-total abortion ban. The only exceptions to the ban are if there is substantial risk of death or impairment to the patient if they continue with the pregnancy and in the case of “medically futile” pregnancies — when the fetus has a fatal abnormality. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.
