A bill that would have charged a woman with murder if she had an abortion was pulled by its author after it was amended to remove criminal charges. The amendment also removed language that would have criminalized in-vitro fertilization. Brooke Thorington has more
Cut 1 (43) “…I’m Brooke Thorington.”
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A Biden administration decision on oil and gas lease sales is receiving harsh criticism from the petroleum industry. David Grubb has more…
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Thursday’s debate on Oil City Representative Danny McCormick’s bill to charge a woman who has an abortion with murder is met with questions of fallout from the issue among the Republican Party in Louisiana. LaPolitic’s dot-com publisher Jeremy Alford says it was republicans who amended the legislation and pointed out the bill could also punish those who use in-vitro fertilization, and that the bill in its original form is unconstitutional.
Cut 3 (10) “….those amendments.”
The amendment passed on a 65 to 26 vote with 14 votes absent. McCormick then pulled the bill from the calendar because the amendment changed the original intent of the bill to criminalize the procedure.
Alford says even with the leak of a possible overturn of Roe v Wade the original bill is considered unconstitutional.
Alford says the original bill that would have saddled abortion participants with murder charges will most likely not return for this legislative session since the bill’s criminalization element was removed from the legislation.
Cut 5 (09) “..politically have not.”
In addition to being questioned by members of his own party about the constitutionality of the bill, Republicans also reminded McCormick Louisiana already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws on the books that would go into effect if Roe V Wade is overturned. Alford was asked if McCormick’s bill is symbolic of a fringe Republican party in Louisiana.
If the bill in its original form passed it was poised to be one of the most aggressive new restrictions on reproductive rights in the country.
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The U-S Department of the Interior is canceling oil and gas lease sales scheduled in the Gulf and Alaskan coast due to what it says is a lack of industry interest in drilling near Alaska and conflicting court rulings that have made drilling in the Gulf more complicated. While environmental groups laud the decision Louisiana Oil & Gas President Mike Moncla say’s it’s disastrous for the state.
Cut 7 (09) “…good for Louisiana.”
Moncla says that the Biden Administration is failing to respond in a time of crisis, with gas prices reaching a record four dollars and forty cents per gallon and consumer prices up 8.3 percent last month from a year ago.
Though new leases won’t have an impact on current gas prices, since it will take years for them to produce oil, Moncla says that the President’s strategy doesn’t prepare the country to become more “green”, address the current fuel needs of Americans, or take into consideration the wide range of businesses that will be impacted.
The administration has scheduled onshore lease sales in eight states for next month but has limited the amount of available land and raised royalty rates.
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Child drownings are on the rise in Louisiana. Regional medical director Martha Whyte says there were 24 drownings in 2020, a 60 percent jump from 2019, and preliminary data from LDH indicates 25 drowning deaths last year. There have also been several drownings around the state in recent weeks.
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Whyte warns that drowning isn’t just confined to large bodies of water. For infants and toddlers, there are dangers inside the home as well that adults have to look out for.
LDH says there are a number of precautions to prevent drowning, and encourages people to take swim lessons and learn CPR. And, in a state where boating and fishing are a way of life Whyte says life jackets are essential.
As part of their efforts, LDH has set up Pool-Safely-dot-gov, which has a wide range of water safety resources.
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Sunday night should present Louisianans with an ideal view of the lunar eclipse. LSU Astronomy Professor Jeffrey Clayton says the earth will travel between the sun and the moon, and the earth’s shadow should be visible beginning at 9:30 and last a few hours.
In earlier times a lunar eclipse, and a red one at that, was thought to be symbolic of an omen but Clayton says both solar and lunar eclipses can be forecasted thus removing the folklore often associated with extraordinary celestial events.
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Clayton says it’s a unique occurrence and he highly recommends making plans to stay up a bit later than usual Sunday night. He says as long as you are in a dark location with few clouds you should be able to enjoy the show and you won’t even need a telescope.