‘MERITLESS’

Louisiana AG Threatens to Jail Abortion Providers Despite Court Pausing New Law

In a letter to the state’s medical society, Jeff Landry warned that the temporary block on the state’s abortion ban does not protect doctors.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has threatened to revoke the medical licenses of abortion providers in the state and jail them if they continue to operate while a judge’s temporary block on the state’s abortion ban remains in effect. In a Wednesday letter to the Louisiana State Medical Society, Landry said the Monday injunction “has limited reach” and doesn’t provide legal immunity to doctors who perform abortions. He claimed the reasons behind the temporary block were “meritless” anyway. “Louisiana medical providers should not fall prey to breathless media reports of injunctions. Subject to certain exceptions, abortion is a criminal offense in the State of Louisiana, and it has been since last Friday. It is incumbent on this office to advise you that any medical provider who would perform or has performed an elective abortion after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs is jeopardizing his or her liberty and medical license,” he wrote. All three abortion clinics in the state previously said they would provide abortions while the temporary block was in effect, the Associated Press reports.