Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided.

By every day.

I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together, together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruthi B Zigler Foundation and the Zigler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.

If anybody thinks this is a flip of the coin or an easy.

Hip pocket, ad hoc.

Esoteric decision, they're wrong.

A history of Louisiana's abortion laws.

It's going to come with growing pains, but it's a necessary thing that our forefathers all experienced, and we will now.

What's next for the state hosts Roe versus Wade.

Good evening, everyone.

I'm Kara St. Cyr.

Andre Moreau is out tonight.

And another historic decision this week.

The Supreme Court paused the redistricting of Louisiana's congressional map.

The high court said that it would wait to settle this dispute until after election season.

Now, back in March, Governor John Bel Edwards vetoed the congressional redistricting map.

Drawn up by Louisiana's legislature because it did not include a second majority minority district.

U.S. District Judge Shelley Dick authorized lawmakers to redraw the map in a special session.

She ruled that it violated the Voting Rights Act because it includes only one majority black district.

When lawmakers came up short, she said she'd redraw the map herself.

The Supreme Court has not revealed a date to review her map.

And now to other news making headlines across the state.

The Supreme Court struck down a New York state law yesterday that made it difficult to obtain a permit to carry a handgun outside the home.

This was the justices first significant ruling on the Second Amendment rights in over a decade.

Great Lakes dredge encamp ompany was sentence a $1 million fine for violating the Clean Water Act.

The violation occurred when the company cut through an oil pipeline during barrier island restoration work off Louisiana in 2016.

The spill released an estimated 5300 gallons, which is about 20,000 liters of crude oil.

It also oiled about 200 birds.

Members of Congress from Louisiana are calling for federal officials to extend deadlines for spending $2 billion in Hurricane Katrina.

Recovery funds for New Orleans road and water infrastructure projects.

The funds are currently set to expire by August 2023.

New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell's administration stated that they can't meet the deadline which was established under a 2015 settlement with FEMA.

Major and former mayor Mitch Landrieu is administration house committee investigating the capital insurrection heard from election workers and state officials on Tuesday.

The panel will hold at least two more hearings in July.

The Baton Rouge Metro Council will revisit a proposed ordinance to ban camping in public spaces The ordinance would penalize anyone who sets up temporary shelter for more than 12 hours within a public right away, fining them up to 200 or jailing them for up to 15 days.

In a sweeping decision, the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, a precedent that legalized abortion for 50 years.

The high court's decision ultimately made abortion in Louisiana illegal.

The state implemented several laws and policies over the course of 30 years to ensure that it would be illegal in a post-roe society.

Tonight, I'll give you a brief history of Louisiana's relationship with Roe versus Wade.

The wonderful day for the.

Women of Louisiana.

Ladies, protect yourselves.

This is the law.

Back in the nineties, the anti-abortion movement was extremely aggressive.

Members of the Pro-Life Action Network have gathered for a two day convention.

The group is using a recent abortion law in Louisiana as ammunition for.

What's going on.

This morning, we're.

Rescuing babies as we love to do.

Yes.

Yes, because abortion is murder.

That's why we do this.

They would do stem They would do blockades and try to prevent people from going into the clinics.

All right.

Come to me.

No choice.

Up to me.

I'll do it.

I don't care.

I don't care about women's rights.

The men and women are behind bars after being arrested.

Today's demonstrations are climaxing an annual pro-life national convention.

I went to a lot of clinics that were firebombed.

Let us help you.

You are baby rotten.

Oh, yeah.

There was a clinic here in Baton Rouge on Granville Springs Road that firebombed clinics all over the country, were being burned down and were being broken into oh.

World.

I don't know anybody.

On this side.

Two thirds of the House of Representatives, this legislature voted for an anti-abortion bill and better than a majority of this state Senate voted for that bill.

In the nineties.

20 years after Roe v Wade, anti-abortion activists were making a new push to restrict access.

Louisiana's legislature was preparing for something big.

Louisiana is the last state to meet in session this year that could provide the Supreme Court the opportunity to consider a statute that would overturn Roe versus Wade.

There was a lot of activity around the country.

Many states were passing new laws, and Louisiana passed the first version of a trigger ban that said that abortion would become legal in the event of Roe being overturned.

Other law.

The bill did not have exceptions for rape and incest.

And that bothered.

Governor Rendell.

It bothered a lot of other people as well.

And that's been that that's actually been something that the legislators have argued about a lot, who are who call themselves pro-life.

Governor Roemer, who is a moderate Republican, vetoed it.

I tried to say from the very beginning, from my heart, so everybody would understand it, that I would sign a bill if it had clear protection for the life of mothers.

And we provided for exceptions with limits for rape and incest.

There were a lot of legislators that were not happy with his veto.

In 1991, lawmakers banded together to override Romney's veto.

All of these things are important to us.

That is what I'm fighting for.

I will never forget that veto override.

Social.

The vote started in the Senate and the vote was taken very, very quickly.

I would move that we override the Governor's veto, Mr. President, and suggests the absence of a quorum.

Final passed a bill that withstanding the governor's veto.

Therefore, all the save for the bill.

Yeah.

There's a gate phony and a secretary will open a machine in the.

Lobby right outside between the rotunda.

And the Senate floor.

There used to be a bank of payphones.

I was on the phone with the National Abortion Rights Action League morale and they announced the vote.

29 yeas nine days you know.

And the legislature came back and overrode his veto.

It was the first time a veto had been overridden in Louisiana in this century.

And they soundly overrode it.

And a few years later he lost his reelection.

The 1991 abortion law was tweaked in the override session.

It would make exceptions for rape and incest as long as it happened within 13 weeks of the pregnancy.

But the rest of the language made it illegal unless the woman's life was in danger.

It was a trigger law, which means it was designed to go into effect the moment Roe versus Wade was overturned.

It was the push some pro-life advocates needed to protest for stricter bans Operation Rescue was one of those groups.

Operation Rescue was started by Randall Terry.

There were three places that were very well known.

For.

Just extreme aggression from Operation Rescue one.

And they were all right then around 1992, Buffalo, New York, Wichita, Kansas and Baton Rouge.

Was kind of sickening.

And so that's the.

Why do you say that?

Why is it sickening to you?

You just see.

I mean.

Yeah, I mean, was it just sickening to me, the vulgarity, the cursing, and that's what sickening the vulgarity in the curse.

When Operation Rescue came, there were just hundreds and hundreds of people.

There were probably four and ties to every one pro-choice person that was there to protect the clinic.

There were people praying to the sewers because they thought that they were washing it, just dumping products of conception down the sewers.

I mean, just crazy things.

How it bad I thought about the chanting and the the screaming horrible things of the patients that came in.

Why do you put up with this abuse from them?

Because I love the children.

That's plain and simple.

I love the children.

I love the Lord Jesus Christ.

And he's giving us commandments to go and do what we did.

Police would have to check with every car that pulled up that wanted to go into the parking lot at the clinic.

They would have to make sure that they were there for clinic business.

They like to think that they stopped people from having abortions on those days, but they didn't.

They didn't.

The doctor, you know, went about his business.

The patients were seen.

The patients received health care.

Operation Rescue's protests were unsuccessful that day, but some lawmakers continue to limit access.

By 2006, Governor Kathleen Blanco signed an even more restrictive abortion ban.

The 2006 turbaned which was signed by our only female governor, was the first sort of real meaty trigger ban.

And it said very bluntly that if Roe was overturned or anything similar, that abortion would immediately become illegal in Louisiana.

There was no exception for rape and incest.

And that one.

Closing abortion clinics became Louisiana his new priority between 1991 and 2022.

Several rules and regulations defined how abortion clinics could open and who could operate them.

Any physician at an abortion clinic had to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.

If you want to physically move an abortion clinic to a new building, you have to apply for a new license.

And so the clinics know they can't move because they won't get a new license.

There's just a lot of paperwork that clinics are missing.

This paper or that paper or whatever.

And they shut them down based on paperwork.

And it's been a successful strategy.

There were 11 clinics at one point fairly recently, and then the number went to seven, and then it went to five.

In 2014 five, abortion clinics were operating in Louisiana.

By 20, 17 there were four.

And currently the state has three.

One in Shreveport.

One in Baton Rouge.

And one in New Orleans.

It is a tectonic shift on abortion rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court today remade the legal landscape, throwing out the precedent laid down 50 years ago in Roe versus.

Wade when Roe versus Wade was overturned on June 24th.

Louisiana's trigger laws were even stricter and now they're legal.

Right before the Supreme Court's decision.

Governor John Bel Edwards signed SB 342 into law.

The language has just gotten narrower, narrower like the legislation passed this year specifically says that for a life of the mother exceptions, it cannot be a mental health issue.

It appears now that the pregnant person has to be almost at death's door.

So now if a pregnancy is considered medically futile, which is that the fetus will not make it outside the womb or will suffer immeasurable pain, you need two physicians to sign off on that.

Louisiana's new law also raise penalties for doctors who perform abortions.

They now face ten years in prison and $100,000 fine.

A civil district judge has blocked the law for now.

Right now in Louisiana, there's a temporary restraining order in place May only be there for a few days, maybe a few weeks.

That says that because we have multiple trigger bans and they conflict that those laws violate state due process protections for abortion providers and abortion clinics, you a person can't be expected to follow a law if they don't know what the law is or what the penalties are.

And there is multiple.

And the judge agreed that the trigger bans are vague and conflict and confusing.

The temporary reprieve is the only thing keeping abortion clinics open in Louisiana right now.

But their future hangs in the balance.

If you or someone you know was planning to cross state lines to get an abortion, representative, Landry advises against it.

The legality is still in limbo here, following the US district, judges reprieve.

If they get an.

For some, the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade was a disaster, toppling over 50 years of precedent.

But for others, this is a victory for life.

And the future of the country's children.

Here with me is Jean Mills.

He is a pro-life advocate and the president of the Louisiana Family Forum.

Thank you so much for joining us.

It's an honor to be with you.

All right.

So let's get started.

So one of the results of the Supreme Court decision is that SB 342 is now law in Louisiana.

Can you explain what that means?

Yeah.

The Dobbs decision basically took the question of whether Roe would be the precedent or the law of the land and turned it upside down.

And inside out.

This court actually went so far as to say of the previous court in 1973 that.

Right never existed.

It's neither enumerated in the Constitution nor expressed anywhere.

So this court did a dramatic shift, returning much of jurisprudence which you call precedent to its original position.

All 50 states had laws on the book back then, including Louisiana Senate Bill three.

42 just simply clarifies our civil and criminal provisions and orders the abortion clinics to close.

If Roe is overturned and now that it has been that goes into effect.

So this has been a really difficult decision for a lot of people and for some like I said earlier, it's been a victory.

How have you felt about the decision.

Well obviously there the joy of knowing that the law has gotten it right and the Constitution is clear.

I think one of the jurist on the on the court said the original court got it egregiously wrong.

I concur with that.

Now, there's a lot of people that are impacted about the mistake of the earlier court.

And now the question of how do you correct that going forward?

So we see an opportunity.

We believe it's an opportunity to celebrate.

We think this court got it right and it's an opportunity to reach this generation with a respect life ethic and also the understanding that we have many people to express compassion, concern and direct care and provision for that are directly in our line of view and in our sphere of influence, and we have a responsibility to reach them.

Another issue that a lot of people have taken with the overturning of Roe v Wade and also, you know, SB three, 42 being implemented is that there aren't any exceptions for incest or rape.

So, you know, what are advocates like you pro-life advocates thinking with that?

What's what's the thinking behind that decision?

And also, you know, what does that mean?

That's a good question.

In the Dobbs case, the court didn't make any mention of questions of exceptions, provisions.

It just simply said there's no right to an abortion enumerated in the Constitution.

Therefore overrode and returns it to the people to decide.

In Louisiana, our legislature will decide.

And there was a Glover Amendment to Senate Bill 342 that failed on a 62 to 37 to six.

There were six absentees that dealt with rape and incest exceptions.

I think it speaks to the pro-life ethic of many Louisianians who believe that life actually begins at the moment of conception, and that ethic must be respected within public policy.

So the assertion is, well, how do you reconcile an egregious wrong rape or incest?

And it is.

And we believe that those who are guilty of that should be prosecuted to the full weight and extent of the law.

But you don't accomplish that by punishing or penalizing a child.

And our concern is that we need to respect life all the way through.

I will say this Senate bill 342 still affords birth control and emergency contraception makes no provision that that is either prohibited or unavailable.

And it remains an option for people in those circumstances.

Is there also a fear that, you know, SB 342 is going to exasperate a already dangerous maternal mortality rate?

I don't believe the law does that.

The law is a teacher.

It tells us this is good and that is outside of the realms of what we consider acceptable.

I think the misinformation, the failure of the family unit the breakdown of the Independent Church and Community Outreach Center that I believe was Hillary Clinton, who once said it takes a village to raise a child That is really true.

And now it's going to take that village to rally around each child and we're going to learn to do life together again.

And it is going to come with growing pains but it's a necessary thing that our forefathers all experienced.

And we will now, and I think it can be positive.

All right.

Jean Mills is the president of the Louisiana Family Forum.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Yes, good to be with you.

And last weekend in Natchitoches, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame class of 20, 22, was inducted into the state's top sports shrine.

The event held annually on the final weekend of June, highlights the journey of individuals whose careers have made a lasting impact on sports in Louisiana, from a Super Bowl champion to a softball star, gymnastic standout and even a rodeo cowboy, this year's induction class celebrated character, achievement and community.

Chris Laycock shows us the highlights.

Welcome everyone to the 2022 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame induction weekend we're getting things started here in Natchitoches at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Museum.

Once again, another great class this honor is awesome.

I look at it a little bit different because it's, you know, it's the whole state of Louisiana, which has a lot of great athletes, a lot of great, you know, people in the sports world.

And I'm looking forward to the weekend.

I'm just excited that I'm mentoring with this class and excited to have my and my stuff in, you know, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

It's just something I'd never dreamed I would have been in at this point.

I mean, not that I wouldn't hoping to be in it.

But at this point, it's just I never dreamed I'd be here.

Very, very humbled.

Honored, just that so many words go to go through my mind three years ago when this TV reporter got in here, I didn't even realize we had this in Louisiana and always represented Louisiana.

Well, I've always been a Cajun, even though I moved out.

But when I got the call, this is icing on the cake.

Celebrating this.

Award.

Yes.

It's it has my name on it, but it's so much bigger than just my name.

And so being able to celebrate with these people is what I'm looking forward to.

Even though you have a rodeo participant, a softball player, a football player, how much common ground you have with those people when you get in the room?

And I think that's always the most enjoyable thing.

I came to my first induction weekend when Deevee Bro got inducted five years ago, and I think from there just became very passionate about it.

And to be here actually as an inductee is pretty special.

OK, I ask yourself why, you know, why is it that Louisianians strive to be better athletes?

It sure seems like we have a lot more here than than than other than other states.

How cool is it been for you guys representing your dad?

I know your mom's here.

I mean, I know it's emotional, but how much fun has it been?

Yeah, it's it's it's been pretty cool to, you know, to hang out with, you know, these individuals that, you know, have represented this state and guys that made an impact in the state.

Louisiana, and know that our father had a pretty, pretty big contributing party.

And that's pretty cool.

You know, I was very surprised and shocked.

I'm sure you've heard the story when they called me in November and said that weekly newspaper guy was going after the Hall of Fame.

So it's been a great weekend.

I've got a lot of my family up here.

Thank you for all the support over my career, all the cynics out there.

And I would just encourage you, young women and young men, too.

To listen to your parents do well in school.

You can be whatever you want.

Dream high, dream big, achieve whatever goals that you have in mind that you want to achieve.

All right.

It was amazing to be out here today.

It was so many Louisiana Sports Hall of Famers there out here doing the drills with the kids today.

There's Memphis opportunity for them because they're teaching how great it is.

So just enjoy the game.

And it's about having fun.

It's about being out there and having fun.

You go play on some interesting station.

Oklahoma drove going here with the Jags.

Yeah, good job.

They're going to touchdown.

Texas TV stations.

They're hitting a lot of big tackles, the sack and Tom Brady over there.

Both of you see a lot of that.

This is a lot working with kids.

There's no better profession than trying to make kids better.

People first and then athlete second.

Into bowls right here.

Off to Bobby Isaiah thumbs down if you follow your thumbs are up.

OK on this guy.

I got you we all know that coaches at this at this age can make or break kids.

You know, they can get them excited about we go sports or we can really turn them off.

And this is such a pivotal part of their career of their lives.

You know to get them interested in trying to you know, to buy buy in and to get into programs.

And like I said, it's a very important part for me.

And hopefully I've been able to do that and make him enjoy that.

You want to keep playing?

Yeah.

So Fisher Fisher yeah.

It's extremely important to encourage our young athletes to to live out their dreams in sports and other things and and just the proper proper techniques and always to have fun out there.

Jerry Evans and Clean Duple Shen were among those celebrated last weekend Evans is in New Orleans Saints Super Bowl champ and duplication is a high school cross-country coach with 64 state titles.

And that's our show for this week remember you can watch anything LPB any time wherever you are with our LP PBS app you can catch LPB News and public affairs shows as well as other Louisiana programs.

You've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and tick tock for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Kara St. Cyr have a happy 4th of July weekend and until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together, together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B, Zigler Foundation and the Zigler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana, and the foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you.