Abortion Bill Veto Is Overturned in Louisiana

The Louisiana Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Buddy Roemer’s veto of an abortion bill that would send to prison doctors who perform the procedure.

Opponents of the legislation said they will immediately move in court to block enforcement of the law, one of the most restrictive abortion statutes in the nation. Supporters said they hope that court challenges will lead to a reversal of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling establishing abortion rights.

The House voted, 76 to 25, to override the veto after suspending rules that would not have allowed debate to begin until today.

The Senate’s 29-9 vote, earlier in the day, came as a surprise. The upper chamber sustained Roemer’s veto of similar legislation in 1990, despite the House’s overwhelming vote to override.

Roemer, closeted in his Capitol office, was unavailable for immediate comment, his aides said. The action made him the first Louisiana governor of this century to have a veto overridden, legislative historians said.

A two-thirds vote was needed in each chamber to override--26 votes in the 39-member Senate and 70 votes in the 105-member House.

The measure would send doctors who perform abortions to jail for up to 10 years; fines go up to $100,000.

The bill bans abortion except to save the life of the mother. Under certain strict guidelines, pregnancies due to rape and incest could be terminated.

Roemer, a Democrat-turned-Republican, vetoed the measure Friday. He said it would put too much pressure on doctors and would burden rape victims with having to report sexual attacks within a week. He said the rape and incest exceptions were too restrictive.

Roemer said he wanted exceptions allowing abortion of profoundly deformed fetuses who would not live long past birth. He also wanted amendments to make it clear that tubal pregnancies could be ended.