§ 1:18 — Construction of laws relative to abortion

§18. Construction of laws relative to abortion
A. It is the intention of the Legislature of Louisiana to prohibit and restrict abortion
and to thereby preserve the life of each unborn child to the fullest extent permitted by law.
B.(1) All laws or parts of laws prohibiting or restricting abortion shall not be negated
or superseded by the laws regulating outpatient abortion facilities or regulating the practice
of abortion, as provided in R.S. 40:1061.1.
(2) Laws regulating or prohibiting an abortion at a certain gestational age of the
unborn child shall not be considered to be in conflict with other laws that regulate or prohibit
abortion at a different gestational age of the unborn child.
C. No governing authority of a political subdivision shall enact any ordinance or
regulation that authorizes or regulates abortion.
D. Unless otherwise specifically provided therein, the provisions of each act of the
legislature prohibiting or regulating abortion are severable, whether or not a provision to that
effect is included in the act. If any provision or item of an act prohibiting or regulating
abortion, or the application thereof, is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other
provisions, items, or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid
provision, item, or application.
E. This Section shall apply to acts of the legislature affecting general laws, and local
and special laws, and statutes of the state, including the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950,
the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Code of
Evidence, and the Children's Code.

Legislative History

Acts 2022, No. 545, §1, eff. June 17, 2022.