BATON ROUGE, La. — It’s another big week in Baton Rouge. We’ve got a roundup of bills on the agenda in your Breakdown.
One of the biggest to make headlines Wednesday, HB648, regarding gender-affirming care for minors, failed to pass in Senate committee.
It would have prohibited doctors from altering a minor’s appearance in any way that does not align with their biological sex.
The tie-breaking vote came from Chairman Fred Mills, a Republican from New Iberia, who sided with Democrats on the matter.
Louisiana lawmakers also rejected another bid to abolish the death penalty, despite emotional testimony and the Governor’s support.
House Criminal Justice Committee Republicans voted to shelve the bill Wednesday, which was written by Rep. Kyle Green of Marrero.
Our partners at The Times-Picayune New Orleans Advocate say Louisiana has not put someone to death in 13 years.
And Louisiana could start issuing “commemorative certificates” to people who have had a miscarriage at 20 weeks of pregnancy or earlier.
The full senate will soon debate HB457, which would have the vital records registry write a certificate with the name and gender of the miscarried fetus, if known. The documents have no legal use.
Two more interesting bills are up for final Senate passage Thursday.
HB5 would allow biological moms to get 50% of their pregnancy-related medical expenses covered by the biological father.
HB8 would require every public and charter school classroom to have an 11 by 14 poster of the motto “In God We Trust” displayed.
There are just a few weeks left in the legislative session and everything must wrap up June 8th.
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