To The Editor:

When I enter the voting booth on Nov. 3, the first amendment on the ballot will ask, “Do you support an amendment declaring that, to protect human life, a right to abortion and the funding of abortion shall not be found in the Louisiana Constitution?” I am proud to be voting “yes.”

While this amendment will not ban any abortions directly, it will prevent pro-choice judges from circumventing legislatures and popular will by finding the right to abortion in our state constitution. Put simply, this amendment decides whether or not a judge can make a decision on abortion. A vote “yes” leaves the decision on abortion to state legislators. Even if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, this amendment would not make abortion illegal.

Far from taking away the human rights of any Louisianians, Amendment One, colloquially known as the Love Life Amendment, will help extend the most basic and fundamental right to life to even the smallest and most vulnerable members of our society.

The abortion lobby has sunk millions of dollars and millions of hours into dehumanizing unborn children, calling them parasites and products of conception. But most embryologists, even pro-choice ones, acknowledge that life begins at conception. The question then becomes: Which lives are worth defending? My answer is: all of them.

Pro-choicers will say that abortion is healthcare. No procedure that intentionally takes a human life can ever be called “care.” As we saw when the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s common-sense admitting privileges law, the abortion lobby cares more about profits than the health and safety of Louisiana women.

I am voting “yes” on the Love Life Amendment because I do not want to see this callous disregard for human life in my state. With my vote, I am working to build a culture of life where no human is sacrificed for convenience. Abortion is the very antithesis of love and empowerment.

Please join me in voting “yes” to the Love Life Amendment on Nov. 3 if you believe in human rights for all human beings.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Doucet