A state anti-abortion lawmaker is working on a bill that would require all women seeking an abortion to undergo professional counseling before they can undergo the procedure.
The bill, written by Rep. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, would add to the already-existing law which mandates a 24-hour waiting period before a doctor can perform an abortion.
“This is not an attempt to stop abortions,” Crowe told The Daily Reveille. “It’s an attempt to better educate the potential mothers about their decision.”
While Crowe said he hopes the bill will lower the number of abortions in the state, he said its main purpose is to protect women from suffering long-term negative mental effects as a result of having an abortion.
“A lot of the time, women are pressured into having an abortion by their parents or other loved ones,” Crowe said. “This is an effort to help women make sure they are making the decision for themselves.”
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a written statement to The Daily Reveille that the bill is an unnecessary governmental intrusion into a woman’s private decision-making process.
“Biased counseling and mandatory delay laws pose an even larger burden on women in rural states like Louisiana who often have to travel far distances,” Keenan said. “The proposed psychological exam has nothing to do with improving women’s health care, but everything to do with allowing politicians to insert themselves into the private decisions of women in Louisiana.”
Crowe said that while he was drafting the bill, he spoke with “more than one woman who has had an abortion” and regretted it, and they have supported what he said are the bill’s intentions.
“The women [who have had abortions] I spoke with agreed with the studies that say women who undergo an abortion have lasting negative effects,” Crowe said.
But some University women disagree with the requirement for pre-abortion counseling. They said the bill’s motives do not seem sincere.
“It seems like a way to keep women from having an abortion,” said Brittany Keller, a biological sciences freshman.
Keller said she likes the idea of a mandatory waiting period, but she said she thinks the counseling might be a subversive attempt to change a woman’s mind.
“If you try to change a woman’s mind, it’s not her decision anymore,” Keller said.
Crowe said the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals would regulate what counselors are able to tell women.
“The DHH already regulates what information doctors [in abortion clinics] can give women in regards to the procedure,” Crowe said. “The DHH will require counselors to give patients similar professional and unbiased advice explaining the consequences of an abortion.”
Mary Higdon, a psychology senior and president of Students for Life, an anti-abortion organization on campus, said she supports Crowe’s bill.
“A lot of people think once an abortion is over, that’s it,” Higdon said. “But that’s not true. She may suffer psychological problems for the rest of her life.”
Higdon said she thinks the counseling is a good way to educate women about an abortion’s potential consequences.
“It will make her more prepared,” Higdon said. “When she knows what to expect, she can make the right decision. I agree with this proposal 100 percent.”