Louisiana House agrees to 72-hour wait period for abortion

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana House has voted to triple the wait time for women seeking an abortion to 72 hours. If passed by the Senate, Louisiana would match five other states with the longest waiting periods in the country.

The change to Louisiana’s abortion restrictions is supported by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and sailed through the House with an 89-5 vote Wednesday.

A woman in Louisiana currently has to wait 24 hours from the time she consults with a doctor and gets a mandatory ultrasound to the moment she gets an abortion. Under Republican Rep. Frank Hoffmann’s bill, that waiting period would grow by another two days.

The proposal includes an exception for women who live 150 miles from the nearest abortion clinic. They would still have to wait 24 hours.