--- --- # Louisiana Bill Would Require Women to Stay on Life Support if Pregnant by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 10, 2014 2:18 AM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jun 10, 2014 2:18 AM UTC Louisiana [Gov. Bobby Jindal](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/jindal-signs-bill-to-keep%5Fn%5F5473633.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000016) will soon decide on a bill that could require hospitals to keep pregnant women on life support, regardless of her family’s wishes. The [bill](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=913101), which passed the Louisiana State House of Representatives [last week](http://www.nola.com/news/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2014/06/louisiana%5Fpregnant%5Fwomen%5Ffetus.html), specifies that if a woman is at least 20 weeks pregnant, she must be kept on life support. State lawmakers say the law would protect healthy fetuses from meeting an untimely demise as a result of the mother’s condition. Abortion rights groups oppose the legislation, the New Orleans [_Times-Picayune_](http://www.nola.com/news/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2014/06/louisiana%5Fpregnant%5Fwomen%5Ffetus.html)reports. A state Senate version of the bill allowed family members to request that expectant mothers be taken off of life support, _Huffington Post_ [said](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/jindal-signs-bill-to-keep%5Fn%5F5473633.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000016), but the provision was scrapped in committee. Jindal is expected to sign the bill into law. A similar law faced scrutiny in Texas earlier this year, when a 14-week pregnant woman was kept on life support for weeks after her husband found her unconscious. A judge later ruled the family’s request to remove her from life support must be [granted](http://nation.time.com/2014/01/26/hospital-will-remove-brain-dead-pregnant-woman-from-life-support/). Gov. Bobby Jindal to Decide on Pregnant Life Support Bill ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2851030/pregnant-women-life-support-louisiana-bill-bobby-jindal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2851030/pregnant-women-life-support-louisiana-bill-bobby-jindal/"},"headline":"Louisiana Bill Would Require Women to Stay on Life Support if Pregnant","datePublished":"2014-06-10T02:18:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:18:51.197Z","description":"The bill would require doctors to keep women on life support regardless of family's wishes","url":"https://time.com/2851030/pregnant-women-life-support-louisiana-bill-bobby-jindal/","keywords":["health","Health Care","women","States"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health/","name":"health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2851030/pregnant-women-life-support-louisiana-bill-bobby-jindal/","name":"Louisiana Bill Would Require Women to Stay on Life Support if Pregnant"}}]}] ```