Denver, Colo., Apr 12, 2023 / 12:15 pm
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, citing “pro-life values,” has called on lawmakers to end the state’s death penalty in the upcoming legislative session. At the same time, he called for the legalization of abortions for pregnant women who were raped or victims of incest.
The death penalty is “inconsistent with Louisiana’s pro-life values, as it quite literally promotes a culture of death,” Edwards said in his final State of the State address to state lawmakers on Monday. He said the death penalty doesn’t deter crime and is not necessary for public safety, the Associated Press reported.
There are 62 inmates on Louisiana’s death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The state has performed 28 executions since 1976. Its last execution was in 2010. Eleven prisoners have been exonerated and freed from death row since 1973.
Louisiana’s abortion ban, passed last year, allows abortions only where there is a substantial risk of death or impairment to the pregnant woman and for “medically futile” pregnancies where the unborn baby has a fatal anomaly. Performing an abortion can result in a maximum sentence of 10 to 15 years in prison.