Strict Louisiana Anti-Abortion Measure Vetoed but House Supports an Override : Legislation: The bill’s backers in the Senate admit that they now lack the votes to overrule the governor. But they have until Monday to lobby colleagues.

Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer Friday vetoed what has been called the strictest anti-abortion bill in the nation, setting the stage for a fight to override his action in the Legislature, which is scheduled to adjourn on Monday.

The Louisiana House of Representatives on Friday night voted 73 to 31 to override the veto. Senators voted 21 to 18 to adjourn late Friday rather than vote on an override.

For an override, legislators needed at least 70 votes in the House and 26 votes in the Senate. When the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Louis (Woody) Jenkins of Baton Rouge, went through the Senate on June 14, it was passed by only 24 votes--two less than the number required to override.

Sen. Allen Bares conceded on the floor Friday that the bill’s backers did not have the 26 votes needed to override. The adjournment gave abortion opponents three days to lobby the Senate.

The bill allows abortions only to save the mother’s life. A person who performed an abortion for any other reason could be sent to jail for 10 years and fined $100,000 under the measure. Roemer, a Democrat, objected that the bill did not allow abortions in cases of rape and incest.

At an impromptu news conference, the governor said he had vetoed the bill earlier in the day but made no other comment.

Although his veto message will not be made public until legislators officially receive it, Roemer last week said that “if we cannot give some credence and faith and hope and constructive opportunity to the victims of these crimes (rape and incest) . . . “ he would not sign the bill.

No gubernatorial veto in Louisiana has been overridden by lawmakers in more than 65 years, and some legislators and political observers here say anti-abortion lawmakers may have made a crucial error in insisting on the strongest possible bill.

“They could have had an anti-abortion bill passed by now if they had agreed to the exceptions,” said Rep. James Cain of Dry Creek, a conservative Democrat opposed to abortion. “Now it may mean that we’ll have no bill at all.”

Rep. Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans, who said he opposed the measure because it could provide for the criminal prosecution of women who seek abortions, said abortion opponents “led their flock off of a cliff.”

“They knew from the beginning that, if the rape and incest exceptions weren’t added, the bill would be vetoed and that they probably didn’t have enough votes for an override,” Landrieu, a Democrat, said. “They were irresponsible, and I think they let a lot of their followers down by pursuing a faulty strategy.”

The idea of overriding, and thus embarrassing Roemer, who still has a high personal popularity rating statewide, has reportedly served to intimidate some legislators.

“I think there’s been an erosion in their numbers because of their strategy,” said Landrieu.

Added Susan Howell, a political pollster with the University of New Orleans: “They didn’t play this thing right, but it seems that Roemer did. He staked out his position of being anti-abortion except in the cases of rape and incest, and he made it clear that he would veto a bill not including these exceptions.”

Howell said Roemer’s position “let the Legislature off the hook. Now Louisiana doesn’t have to pay for a long legal fight that would go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which it could ill afford. Legislators can say that they voted for the toughest anti-abortion bill in the nation, but somehow it just didn’t work out.”

Despite criticism of their strategy, Democratic Sen. Mike Cross, who led the fight for the anti-abortion bill, said he was opposed all along to any exceptions to a strong bill. Cross said he was for a “tough bill or nothing” and added that there is “still a chance we can override. I’m not predicting it, but it will be close.”