The 2005 Louisiana legislative session is history – the governor has signed or vetoed all bills, and the legislators have declined to hold a veto session to challenge any of those decisions.
The 2005 Louisiana legislative session is history –
the governor has signed or vetoed all bills, and the legislators have
declined to hold a veto session to challenge any of those decisions.
So, how did it turn out, particularly on moral and social issues?
It probably depends on who one asks, said Ken Ward,
executive director of the Louisiana Moral and Civic Foundation.
“There were a couple of hot-button issues related to
living wills – or what became known as death with dignity – and human
cloning,” Ward noted.
“Some were pleased with actions on those issues, and
some were not. There were other issues as well – gambling and abortion,
for instance.
“There were wins and losses on several fronts, some
things that were positive, some that could have been more positive,”
Ward explained of the recent session.
“Overall, I think most observers would call it an average session for moral and social concerns – about a C.”
In ways, it was a unique session.
Years ago, the legislature switched to a two-year
pattern – in one year, they would consider all manner of issues, while
in the second, they would consider only fiscal matters, primarily the
state budget.
But this year, legislators altered that pattern.
While the 2005 session was designated a fiscal-only year, each
legislator also was allowed to file a limited number of measures on
other issues. Thus, what had figured to be a quiet year
for moral and social issues proved otherwise.
By session’s end, legislators had sent 513 bills to Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s desk.
She signed all but five of them and also used
line-item veto power to delete almost $1 million from the $18.7 billion
budget.
Several of the approved measures related to moral and social issues of concern.
One of them addresses living wills and the “death with dignity” issue.
The issue grabbed headlines in the wake of the Terry
Schiavo case in Florida. Schiavo had been declared in a vegetative
state for several years. Her husband wanted to end feeding and
hydration measures, but Schiavo’s parents and other family members did
not. After protracted court battles, the husband’s wish prevailed.
Schiavo died soon after the measures were ended.
Louisiana legislators were determined to prevent
such a scenario. Although the state had an existing law in which
persons could file a living will, legislators wanted to specify what
such a declaration meant.
They also wanted to prevent any ambiguity from
resulting in the removal of life-sustaining measures when that would
not have been a person’s wish.
The resulting law that addresses the issue touches on several points:
• It retains the right of Louisiana residents to
file a living will making known their wishes if they should enter a
terminal or irreversible state and cannot communicate with physicians.
• It declares that spouses who are legally separated
from the patient, who are cohabiting with another person in the manner
of marriage, who have been convicted of a crime of violence that
resulted in the terminal or irreversible condition or who have violated
any domestic abuse protection order affecting the spouse cannot be
qualified to make end-of-life decisions.
• It amends the living will form to provide
Louisiana residents with two choices – that all life-sustaining
procedures (including nutrition and hydration) be withdrawn at the
appropriate time or that all measures (except for nutrition and
hydration) be withdrawn.
• It affirms that “it is the policy of the state of
Louisiana that human life is of the highest and inestimable value
through natural death” and that any ambiguity in interpreting the law
“shall be interpreted to preserve human life.”
Ward noted the debate of the issue never was
polarized. “Some had different views about how it should be addressed,
but there was no real opposition,” he said. “The outcome was not really
a surprise.”
Meanwhile, the surprise of the human cloning issue was that there was no outcome – again.
For the second year in a row, legislators were
unable to resolve differences on the issue. “It seemed like everybody
wanted to prohibit cloning, but the debate centered around embryonic
stem-cell research,” Ward explained.
Some legislators wanted to ban all human cloning
except for that related to embryonic stem-cell research, which many
scientists say holds the key to treatment of a range of diseases.
Other legislators wanted to ban even that type of
cloning, arguing that embryonic stem-cell research requires the
destruction of days-old human embryos and must be equated to abortion.
In the end, neither side held sway.
The bill allowing for embryonic research failed on
the floor of the House. The alternative passed the House but failed to
emerge from Senate committee.
“At the state level, we now have no prohibition
against human cloning,” Ward noted. “So, I look for this to be ‘the’
moral and social concern issue that will dominate the next session.”
In addition to end-of-life measures and human
cloning, several other issues of concern were addressed in the recent
session. Consider the following:
• Legislators passed a measure that requires victims
of rape and incest who seek an abortion to be offered informed consent
information. The measure started out requiring all women who seek
abortions to receive counseling. However, it was amended during the
legislative process. “This was viewed as a partial victory,” Ward said
of the subsequent law.
• A measure that would have exempted churches from
state sales and use taxes passed the House but died in Senate
committee. Ward noted that House passage was a bit of a surprise, since
estimates said the measure would cost the state $10 million a year in
lost revenue. “Even though it failed to pass the whole process, the
idea was introduced,” he said. “And several legislators have vowed to
debate the issue again in the next session.”
• A bill was passed and signed that sets a standard
for measuring distance from a church to a licensed liquor
establishment. Law dictates that such establishments be at least 300
feet from a church and other designated facilities. However, there was
dispute about how the distance was measured. “The change should be
viewed as a positive thing,” Ward said.
• A measure that would have allowed cruiseship
gambling between New Orleans and St. Francisville was defeated, as was
a move to allow slot machines at the Louis Armstrong International
Airport in New Orleans. Both measures passed the House but failed in
the Senate.
• A bill that would have prohibited the issuing of
video poker licenses to truck stop facilities after July 1, 2005
failed, as did a measure that would have allowed the town of Richwood
to hold a vote on allowing video poker. The latter especially was
important since video poker had been banned in Richwood’s parish, Ward
noted. “If this had been allowed, there would have been some cities in
every parish that voted out video poker that would have tried to follow
suit,” he said. Meanwhile, the bill on video poker licenses would have
represented a “great drawing of a line in the sand,” Ward noted.
• A bill was passed and signed that raises the fine
for leaving children unattended in motor vehicles from $25 to no more
than $500 or six months in jail or both. A second offense results in
one to two years in jail and a fine of $1,000 to $2,000.
• A new law requires that adoption awareness
information be included in any family life course materials for middle
or high school students.
• A new law creates the Louisiana Military Family
Assistance Fund to help meet needs of family members of activated
military personnel.
• A measure was approved and signed that toughens
the penalties for a person under age 21 who purchases alcohol or for an
adult who purchases alcohol for a minor. In addition to possible
imprisonment and/or fines, penalties now include suspension of one’s
driver’s license for 180 days.
• A bill was approved and signed that extends
the deadline for prosecuting sex offenses against a person under 17
from 10 years after the victim turned 18 to 30 years after that time.
• A new law creates the crime of human trafficking,
defined as the intentional recruiting, harboring, transporting,
providing, soliciting or obtaining a person through fraud, force or
coercion for the purpose of supplying services or labor.
• A new law creates the crime of “computer-aided
solicitation of a minor” for sexual conduct or violent purposes.
• A new measure expands the crime of child neglect
to include any affect on the health of a newborn as a result of
prenatal exposure to illegal drugs.
• A new law requires the use of an ignition
interlock device in certain cases involving persons convicted of
driving while intoxicated or vehicular negligence.
• A new measure dedicates 1 percent of monies (not
to exceed $500,000) from the Pari-mutuel Live Racing Facility Gaming
Control Fund to be dedicated to the Compulsive and Problem Gaming Fund.
In reviewing the 2005 session, Ward noted that there was a lessening of activity related to gambling.
However, he said that probably was not due to any
anti-gambling sentiment. “Instead, I sense a feeling of ‘let’s hold the
line,’” he said. “It’s not so much that a person is against gambling
but against an expansion of gambling. I don’t sense a push to say
‘okay, let’s roll it back.’”
Still, Ward said awareness has grown that gambling
is not the answer to every problem in the state. Also, there is an
increased understanding of the dangers of problem gambling, he said.
P.S. From the “Only-in-Louisiana” Department comes a
final new law that creates the crime of crawfish theft. As stipulated,
theft of even less than $100 of crawfish could result in jail time or a
fine. The issue is not a light one – in 2004, Louisiana produced 70
million pounds of pond-raised crawfish.