In the least surprising news of the day, Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal visited his state between jaunts to the various watering holes of constitutional conservatism long enough to sign a bill to join Texas and Mississippi in the “supply-side” antichoice strategy of shutting down abortion clinics via spurious health regulations.
As the Times-Pic‘s Emily Lane reports, the bill is almost certain to shut down the only clinics in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and the only one more or less sure to survive is a single clinic in Shreveport.
“I am proud to sign these bills because they will help us continue to protect women and the life of the unborn in our state,” Jindal said in a statement issued after the signing. “These new laws will give women the health and safety protections they deserve and continue to make Louisiana a state that values individual human life.”
More accurately, the law will “protect” women from exercising their constitutional right to choose.
Louisiana is in the Fifth Judicial Circuit, where Texas won the right to implement its law pending further appeals, and Mississippi is currently appealing to strike down a district court injunction blocking its law. So it’s likely Jindal and the sponsors of the Louisiana law will get their way, at least temporarily. Meanwhile, Bobby gets another talking point to use with antichoicers on the presidential campaign trail.
