A bill that would give up to $5 million in tax breaks for donations to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers cleared the Senate finance committee on Monday.
The bill by state Sen. Beth Mizell (R-Franklinton) mirrors a law already passed in Mississippi — and it would incentivize donations to crisis pregnancy centers, which under the bill would be renamed “maternal wellness centers.”
Mizell has said the bill is necessary to address Louisiana’s poor maternal health outcomes; the state has among the worst maternal and infant mortality rates in the U.S. She said the centers put pregnant people “on the path to good prenatal care, and actually postpartum care.”
The centers often offer free pregnancy tests, non-diagnostic ultrasounds, parenting classes and material needs, including baby clothes. Some refer people to OB-GYN services. But these clinics are also controversial.
They’re typically run by Christian organizations, and they exist in part to dissuade people from getting abortions. They often promote misinformation about abortion, and some promote false claims about birth control. Some also promote the medically unproven and potentially dangerous practice of “abortion reversal.”
Crisis pregnancy centers are already eligible for welfare funding through Louisiana’s Alternatives to Abortion Initiative. Lift Louisiana, an abortion-rights legal and lobbying group that opposes Mizell’s bill, found in a 2022 report that the state had given over $11 million in grants to crisis...
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