Abhortion · State legal snapshot
Near-total ban, enforced. Louisiana prohibits nearly all abortion from fertilization with criminal penalties for providers; pregnant women are expressly exempt from criminal…
§ I · Gestational limit
│ Total ban from fertilization · La. R.S. 14:87.7(A)
§ II · Restriction inventory — 15 checked, 11 in force
✓Provider ban · all stagesIn force
◐2 in-person visitsIn force
◐Method ban · D&E · D&XIn force
◐Physician-only lawIn force
◐One-parent consentIn force
✓Telehealth prescribing banIn force
◐72-hour waiting periodIn force
●Spousal consent or noticeNone
●Abortion trafficking lawNone
◐Scripted counselingIn force
●Civil bounty (SB8-style)None
✓Private insurance restrictionIn force
◐Mandatory ultrasoundPerformed
✓Pill-mailing banIn force
○Self-managed abortion crimeUnclear
§ III · Access
Criminal exposure
Procedure
Coverage & interstate
Available now
No
Pregnant person
Expressly exempt
Waiting period
72 hours
Medicaid
Hyde only
Medication · telehealth
Regulated separately · telehealth barred
Self-managed
Unclear
Compelled visits
2 in person
Private insurance
Restricted
Who may perform
Physicians only
Provider max penalty
Felony, 1-10 years hard labor +…
Minors
One-parent consent
Shield state
No
Mailing pills
Banned
Fetal homicide law
Yes · abortion carved out
Judicial bypass
Available
Major pending change
Yes · see p. 2
✓ Abolition-aligned — forbids abortion or imposes liability◐ Partial — a hurdle, an enjoined law, or a carve-out● No restriction○ Unclear or not applicable
§ IV · Why it is banned — governing authorities
Human Life Protection Act, La. R.S. 40:1061 — The primary trigger ban: prohibits all abortion from fertilization with a life/health…
■Criminal Abortion (Second Trigger Ban), La. R.S. 14:87.7 — Second trigger ban: flat prohibition on abortion with penalty of 1-10 years hard labor…
■Criminal Abortion by Means of Abortion-Inducing Drugs, La. R.S. 14:87.9 — Separately criminalizes medication abortion with specific penalties; provides mother…
“No person may knowingly use or employ any instrument or procedure upon a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of an unborn human being.”— La. R.S. 40:1061(C)
Fetal personhood — how the contradiction is walled off
✓ La. R.S. 14:2(A)(7)
“Person includes a human being from the moment of fertilization and implantation.”
Person defined from fertilization and implantation
→
● Exempt · pregnant woman
Expressly exempt from criminal liability
● Carved out · abortion
Abortion is not chargeable under the homicide statutes.
✓ Reached · third parties
Feticide, mother excluded
Louisiana law is profoundly internally contradictory on fetal personhood, and these contradictions are explicitly statutory rather than accidental. Wrongful death: Wrongful death action for unborn child.
§ V · Criminal exposure by actor
○
Pregnant woman
Expressly exempt from criminal liability
✓
Physician
Felony, 1-10 years hard labor + fine
✓
Non-physician prescriber
Prescriber and pharmacist exposure…
✓
Helpers · funds
Helpers exposed to criminal and civil…
●
Travel helpers
Travel not expressly criminalized
●
Civil bounty
No SB8-style civil bounty
✓ the actor faces criminal or civil exposure under state law · ● no exposure · ○ unclear or theoretical
Penalties on the books — top 5
§ VI · How the law got here ● court ■ statute ◆ executive / agency
Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal lifts the TRO; the Louisiana Supreme Court denies review.
1 Aug 2022■Act 548 takes effect, creating the separate crime of criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs (La. R.S.
10 May 2023◆Louisiana House Criminal Justice Committee rejects bills to add rape and incest exceptions to the abortion ban.
8 May 2024◆Louisiana legislature again rejects rape and incest exceptions to the abortion ban.
1 Oct 2024■Act 246 (SB 276) takes effect, adding mifepristone and misoprostol to Schedule IV of Louisiana's Uniform Controlled…
31 Jan 2025●Louisiana grand jury indicts New York physician Dr.
3 Jun 2025◆Louisiana House Criminal Justice Committee rejects HB 215, the latest bill to add rape and incest exceptions, the…
24 Jun 2025■Act 383 (HB 575) signed into law as the Justice for Victims of Abortion Drug Dealers Act, expanding civil liability…
§ VII · Exceptions matrix
Named in law: ◐ the exception is written into the ban · ✓ no such exception · ● no ban for an exception to operate against. Verified (neutral): ✓ quoted text confirmed at source · ◐ semi-verified · ○ verify before publication · — not applicable.
§ VIII · Interstate & helpers
✓ No shield law
Hostile, not a shield state
● Travel unrestricted
Travel out of state not prohibited
✓ Telehealth prescribing barred
Telehealth for abortion prohibited
✓ Pill mailing banned
Mailing pills is criminalized
✓ Funding help exposed
Funding exposes to accomplice and civil liability
✓ Providing information
Information liability unclear
Interstate postureLouisiana is actively prosecuting out-of-state abortion providers; it has no shield law and has indicted a New York physician.
§ IX · Who pays
Medicaid: Hyde only, plus rape/incest if…
Life
Hyde · federal
Rape
Hyde · federal
Incest
Hyde · federal
Beyond Hyde
Not covered
Private insurance abortion coverage restricted
Exchange plans barred from abortion coverage
✓Defunds abortion providers
§ X · Pending changes status and effect as recorded — no forecast
Louisiana v. FDA (No. 6:25-cv-01491, W.D. La.)Filed October 6, 2025; stayed by district court in April 2026 pending FDA safety review of mifepristone
If successful, could reinstate nationwide the FDA's pre-2023 in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, effectively ending telehealth medication abortion across…
LitigationState of Louisiana v. Margaret Carpenter (18th JDC, West Baton…Indictment issued January 2025; extradition refused by New York; interstate conflict unresolved
Will test whether a state with a near-total ban may enforce its criminal abortion law against an out-of-state physician in a shield-law state. Resolution could determine…
LitigationConstitutional challenge to Act 246 (mifepristone/misoprostol…Petition filed in Louisiana state court (19th JDC) in January 2025; pending
A successful challenge would strike down the Schedule IV classification of mifepristone and misoprostol, potentially restoring their status as non-controlled…
LitigationJune Medical Services v. Landry (merits phase)Preliminary injunction dissolved; merits litigation ongoing in 19th JDC
If plaintiffs ultimately prevail, could invalidate one or more trigger bans on state constitutional grounds. Given the 2020 constitutional amendment removing any state…
§ XI · Key authorities ● case ■ statute ◆ agency
■Human Life Protection Act La. R.S. 40:1061
■Criminal Abortion (Second Trigger Ban) La. R.S. 14:87.7
■Criminal Abortion by Means of Abortion-Inducing Drugs La. R.S. 14:87.9
■Schedule IV Controlled Substance Classification La. R.S. 40:964, as amended by Act 246 (2024)
■Justice for Victims of Abortion Drug Dealers Act La. R.S. 9:2800.12, as amended by Act 383 (2025)
■Louisiana Constitution, Article I, § 20.1 La. Const. Art. I, § 20.1 (2020)
■Definition of Person and Unborn Child La. R.S. 14:2(A)(7), (11)
■Feticide Statute La. R.S. 14:32.5-32.8
●June Medical Services v. Landry June Medical Services v. Landry, La. 1st Cir. (Aug. 1,…
●Louisiana v. FDA (mifepristone litigation) Louisiana v. FDA, No. 6:25-cv-01491 (W.D. La., filed Oct.…
■Informed Consent and Waiting Period Law La. R.S. 40:1061.17
■Parental Consent Law La. R.S. 40:1061.14