HB425 strengthens laws against coercing abortions. It adds to the crime of extortion any threat made to compel a pregnant woman to have an abortion. It also updates the crime of coerced abortion to apply when someone knowingly uses or threatens physical force, control, or intimidation—including assault, battery, kidnapping, false imprisonment, or extortion—to pressure a woman into an abortion against her will. The penalty remains a fine of up to $5,000 and imprisonment up to five years, with or without hard labor.
The Louisiana State Senate passed HB425 on June 8, 2025 by a vote of 30 to 7. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because this bill protects both mothers and their preborn children from violent pressure to end an innocent life. Coercion to commit an abortion is rightly treated as a grave offense, because abortion itself is the deliberate taking of a human life. The care of human life—not its destruction—is the first duty of civil government, and the right to life is the most fundamental, God-given, and “unalienable” right referenced in the Declaration of Independence. While Louisiana should ultimately work to abolish abortion entirely, HB425 represents a meaningful step toward protecting the innocent and upholding the rule of law.
