For a Louisiana lawmaker, exempting incest and rape from the state’s abortion ban is personal

By SARA CLINE
Associated Press

Democratic state Rep. Delisha Boyd is fighting an uphill battle in her attempt to pass a bill that would exempt cases of rape and incest from Louisiana’s near-total abortion ban. In the hopes of improving its chances in the GOP-dominated Legislature, the New Orleans lawmaker has shared the story of her own mother, who was the victim of a statutory rape when she was 15 and later gave birth to Boyd. Abortion ban proponents argue that Boyd herself might not exist if her mother had had the choice to end her pregnancy. But Boyd said her story is a “life for a life:” Her mother turned to self-medicating and died before the age of 30.