For immediate release: Saturday, June 2, 2012
For further information: Jessica Rodgers, 202-626-8825, mediarelations@nrlc.org
WASHINGTON – Unborn children who are capable of feeling pain are closer to being protected from abortion under a Louisiana bill, which was passed by the Louisiana bill. Senate Bill 766, which contains the restrictions, passed the House unanimously early Friday before being sent to the upper chamber so senators could give their approval to changes made in a House committee. The Senate voted 38-1 to send the bill to the governor’s desk, with only Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, casting a dissenting vote.
SB 766’s protection is based on legislative findings that substantial medical evidence demonstrates that unborn children are capable of feeling pain at least from 20 weeks from fertilization.
“Louisiana has a vested interest in protecting unborn children who can feel pain from the violence of abortion,” said Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D., director of state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). “We applaud the Louisiana legislature for taking this important step to protect pain-capable unborn children.”
“Modern medical science provides substantial compelling evidence that unborn children recoil from painful stimuli, that their stress hormones increase when they are subjected to any painful stimuli, and that they require anesthesia for fetal surgery,” said Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D., director of state legislation for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).
Further documentation and links to the scientific studies can be found at: www.doctorsonfetalpain.com.