Louisiana board halts New Orleans flood aid in abortion battle

• According to the Washington Post, a Louisiana board has temporarily suspended funding for a key power plant needed to prevent flooding.
• The station operates critical sewage pumps needed to protect New Orleans, a city of about 384,000 residents.
• The action was taken at the urging of La. AG Jeff Landry, who said the city was challenging the state’s new abortion law.

A Louisiana commission last week temporarily suspended funding for New Orleans flood control over the city’s objections, the Washington Post reported.

At the request of Republican state Attorney General Jeff Landry, the Louisiana State Bond Commission on Thursday voted 7-6 to block — for the time being — a $39 million line of credit that city leaders wanted to use for a power plant to help solve flooding problems.

The station operates the sewage pumps necessary to protect the city of approximately 384,000 residents.

Landry’s action comes after the New Orleans City Council passed a resolution in July requiring the city government not to use city funds to prosecute abortion-related crimes.

“Officials in New Orleans are sworn to uphold and enforce the laws of our state,” he said in a Facebook statement. “Violation of the Interests of the People of Louisiana.”

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell criticized the move by Landry, a former congressman and 2023 gubernatorial candidate.

“I am disappointed, but not surprised, by the Attorney General’s crisis that has caused critical infrastructure funding to be delayed again in the midst of hurricane season,” she said in a statement. “I will continue to prioritize important improvements to our city’s aging infrastructure while fighting for reproductive rights for all women.”

After Roe v. Wade — the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States — was overturned by the Supreme Court in June, Louisiana ended one of the strictest abortion bans in the country.

Abortion is now prohibited in the state, regardless of rape or sexual intercourse, and the procedure is only permitted to save the life of the mother.

The pro-abortion law was enacted with the expectation that Roe v. Wade would be overturned by the courts, and after the decision was temporarily suspended by the court, the law was eventually allowed to stand.

Landry dismissed the City Council’s vote as a government official.

He serves as a member of the bond commission and delayed a vote last month on a proposal to fund the power plant.

On Thursday, Landry said New Orleans could follow the abortion ban or drop funding for the plant.

“If you want this project to move forward, repeal the resolution,” Landry said.

Gov. John Bel Edwards — a conservative, anti-abortion Democrat — supported the flood funding.

The governor’s aides on the board voted to approve the project.

“The idea that you’re going to punish everyone who lives in the same area because you’ve fallen out with some of the elected officials, that’s not a reasonable approach,” Edwards said last month after the initial vote was delayed.

Matthew Block — Edwards’ executive counsel and panel appointee — said the City Council’s vote carried little weight because abortion providers had moved out of the state, so there was no need for the state to take such action.

“There are no abortions in Louisiana right now, much less in Orleans Parish, right now,” Block said. “So because there were statements that were made and a proposal was made, somehow there may not be future enforcement of the law — that’s not happening right now.”

Republican state senator Brett Allen is a member of the commission he said. It was a “trouble” for the state to target the city in this way.

“I think we’re probably misfiring,” he said last week.

However, Landry disagreed with that statement at Thursday’s committee hearing, according to the Louisiana Illuminator.

“We must not delay our ability to use the tools at hand to bring them to heel, frankly,” he said.