La. Lawmakers Vote For New Abortion Restrictions

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Lawmakers have voted to make Louisiana the fifth state to prohibit a commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure.

The Senate gave final legislative passage to the bill with a 36-2 vote Tuesday, sending it to Gov. John Bel Edwards' desk. The House already had overwhelmingly supported the measure.

The bill by Rep. Mike Johnson, a Republican from Bossier City, would ban a procedure called dilation and evacuation, known as D&E. The procedure would only be allowed if necessary to prevent "serious health risk" to the mother.

Similar laws have been passed in four other states, with anti-abortion groups describing the procedures as "dismemberment abortions." State courts have blocked the laws in Kansas and Oklahoma.

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