Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, 21 states, including Louisiana, have since banned or restricted abortion. Crackdowns on abortion rights continue, with some states now attempting to pass “abortion trafficking” laws to limit people’s ability to travel to another state to get an abortion.
Idaho was the first to pass such a law, which made it illegal to help a minor get abortion pills or leave the state for a procedure without parental consent. A similar bill is being considered in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Alabama, and several localities in Texas have adopted ordinances to ban helping anyone travel for an abortion.
The Texas ordinances place their enforcement in the hands of private citizens, allowing them to file civil lawsuits for up to $10,000 in damages against those they believe to be assisting someone traveling for an abortion.
The ordinances have been widely criticized, and their legality questioned. One Texas judge ruled that having private citizens enforce the law is unconstitutional, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh called travel bans unconstitutional, stating in a written opinion “For example, may a State bar a resident of that State from traveling to another State to obtain an abortion? In my view, the answer is no based on the constitutional right to interstate travel.”
The number of Americans traveling to other states to get an abortion has doubled in recent years, experiencing a surge in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s overturning according to research by the Guttmacher Institute. In the first half of 2023, nearly one in five patients seeking an abortion have had to travel to another state.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced in February an advertising campaign and online petition to attempt to combat travel ban bills.
The petition’s website states that these bills seek to “ban minors from traveling out of state to get an abortion without parental consent — no matter if it’s a case of incest or if there is abuse in the family. These are states that basically want to imprison women and young girls. It’s a backdoor nationwide abortion ban, denying women the opportunity to go to a freedom state. Taking away the right to travel that’s guaranteed by the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
Guttmacher also classifies Louisiana, along with every state bordering it, as having the most restrictive abortion policies. Abortion is completely banned in Louisiana, with limited exceptions to save the life of or prevent serious risk to the pregnant person’s health, or if the fetus is not expected to survive.
Last year, Governor Jeff Landry (then attorney-general) signed a letter sent to the Biden Administration saying that the state needs access to the information of residents who travel out of state for an abortion. In 2022, Landry called on the state to not approve any financing to New Orleans being planned, which included money to construct a Sewerage and Water Board power plant and rehabilitate an old Veterans Administration hospital, because they refused to enforce abortion laws.
Landry also encouraged people who disagree with the state’s anti-abortion laws to leave, stating “If you don’t like Louisiana’s laws or Louisiana’s constitution, you can go to another state.”
A travel ban has not been passed or proposed in Louisiana yet, but the closest states to get an abortion are Florida (which allows abortion 15 weeks into pregnancy, but requires two trips with 24 hours in between) and Illinois (which allows abortions 24 weeks into pregnancy, and will start dispensing abortion pills in select Walgreens pharmacies). Groups, such as the Louisiana Abortion Fund, assist those in need by helping to provide funding to those traveling for abortion care.