Louisiana Bills Would Hurt Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

Pro-life lawmakers and advocates are sounding the alarm over two bills introduced in the Louisiana state House that would undermine the ability of pregnancy resource centers in the Bayou State to assist mothers and babies in need.

House Bill 611 would require pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) that perform ultrasounds and other health services to be licensed by the Louisiana Department of Health, with state Rep. Aimee Adatto Freeman (D) claiming that the mandate is needed to ensure that doctors are present to review ultrasounds in order to determine possible medical emergencies.

But experts like Erica Inzina, who serves as policy director for Louisiana Right to Life, say that the legislation is a thinly veiled attempt by pro-abortion forces to subvert the work of PRCs, who already have medically licensed staff to perform medical services.

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“This bill would be catastrophic for pregnancy centers,” she underscored during “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” Monday. “… Any of them that do provide ultrasounds or pregnancy tests are doing this under the supervision and licensure of a medical director. The ultrasounds are performed by licensed and qualified people to perform ultrasounds, and then they’re read by a medical director or other physician. So this would be really damaging for our pregnancy centers and their ability to meet moms on the front line.”

Inzina continued, “Oftentimes it’s those ultrasounds that bring the moms into the pregnancy centers where the pregnancy centers themselves are able to refer the moms to our abundant resources that are helpful for them, including prenatal care. We’re fighting really hard to oppose this one.” She also pointed out that “the only other states that mandate licensure by their departments of health for pregnancy centers are states like California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and … Connecticut. These are not the types of states that we want to join forces with.”

Research shows that pregnancy resource centers provide critical assistance that would be otherwise unavailable to mothers who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant without the support of the father or who are in difficult financial situations. A recent report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) found that 2,775 PRCs spread across the country “provided a value of over $452 million in total medical care, support and education services, and material goods” in 2024 alone. The report also found that “8 in 10 centers are providing free or low-cost medical services, staffed by over 10,000 medical professionals.”

Further research reviewed by CLI found that without the support PRCs provide to expectant mothers, many more abortions would likely occur. The study found that “60% of women with a history of abortion would have preferred to give birth if they had received either more emotional support or had more financial security.” This is illustrated by data showing that in the five years spanning 2016-2020, an estimated 828,131 unborn babies were saved from abortion because of the work of PRCs.

Still, Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and officials in states like Massachusetts have been pushing public smear campaigns to discredit and cripple PRCs from providing support for needy mothers and babies since at least 2022, when the Dobbs Supreme Court decision overturned Roe v. Wade.

“[I]t’s not just a sudden push, it’s a concerted effort that we’ll see replicated nationwide, especially if this passes here in Louisiana,” Inzina observed. “Some of the language and the tactics that we’re seeing are the same types of tactics that have been used in other ways to villainize pregnancy centers elsewhere in the country. We have two very anti-life and anti-pregnancy center legislators who are kind of behind this here in our Louisiana legislature — thank goodness they are not the norm. They are the exception. But … they are working concertedly with more national groups to start chipping away at pregnancy centers.”

Another Louisiana House bill of concern to pro-lifers is House Bill 931, which would prohibit PRC staff from sharing religious material and praying with expectant mothers as part of their services. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins pointed out that the ability of PRCs to provide spiritual guidance to moms “is why they’re there in large part to address the core need.”

Inzina concurred. “[T]hese pregnancy centers are the ones who are actually offering hope and resources and help to moms. And a lot of times, one of the very first things that they do for them is to show them their baby in the womb. Our opponents hate that. They hate that because it shows women that there is life inside them. So I think they’ll continue doing everything they can to shut that down.”

After debate in the Louisiana House, state Rep. Aimee Adatto Freeman (D) deferred HB611, postponing it from being considered further. HB931 is currently pending in the House Education Committee.

LifeNews Note: Dan Hart writes for the Family Research Council. He is the senior editor of The Washington Stand.

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