The Louisiana House approves legislation that would prohibit gender based abortions. New Orleans Representative Walt Leger voted “yes” on Houma Representative Lenar Whitney’s bill, but he’s concerned language in the legislation will lead to frivolous lawsuits against abortion doctors…

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Whitney’s legislation passed on an 84-2 vote and now heads to the Senate for more debate.

In a unanimous vote, the state House passed New Orleans Representative Helena Moreno’s bill that would ban hospitals from billing rape victims for their medical exams. The measure would permit health care providers to submit a claim to the victim’s insurance company for payment, but the victim would not be required to pay any share of the costs. The legislation now goes to the Senate for consideration.

The full House has approved legislation that will reduce the maximum penalty for those who are convicted multiple times for simple marijuana possession. Under the bill, a person convicted three times for having a small amount of pot, faces a maximum sentence of eight years, instead of 20 which is current law. The senate will debate the measure next.

A recent Southern Media and Opinion Research poll shows that voters approve of a series of revenue generating bills the House passed to cover state’s $1.6 billion budget deficit. Scott Carwile reports…

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