Fact Check: Unraveling claim Louisiana voted to force 9-year-old rape victim to carry pregnancy

Yahoo

5 days ago

Claim:
In early June 2025, Louisiana lawmakers voted "to force a 9-year-old girl to deliver her rapist's baby."
Rating:
What's True:
In early June 2025, Louisiana lawmakers rejected a bill that would have added exceptions for rape to the state's abortion ban, specifically allowing young rape victims to terminate their pregnancies.
What's False:
The proposed bill did not reference or target any specific case of a pregnant 9-year-old.
What's Undetermined:
The claim originated from Louisiana state Rep. Patricia Moore's mention of a pregnant 9-year-old girl in her district. However, we were unable to independently confirm the existence or circumstances of the case.
In July 2025, social media posts claimed that a nine-year-old girl in Louisiana was being forced to carry a pregnancy resulting from sexual assault.
One Threads post (archived) with the claim reached over 85,000 reactions and 10,000 shares, as of this writing. It read:
There is a nine year old CHILD in Louisiana being forced to carry a pregnancy that was the result of SA.
A nine year old CHILD. Who cannot give birth naturally because she is a CHILD and will have to undergo a C Section if she or the fetus even survive.
This should enrage you. This is not pro life. I will not argue
(Threads user @savabigailbeluee)
The claim first surfaced on social media in June 2025, when an X post (archived) claimed, "Louisiana votes to force a 9-year-old girl to deliver her rapist's baby." It also quoted Democratic state Rep. Patricia Moore allegedly saying, "I'm constantly hearing that God would take a bad situation and turn it into good," additionally claiming that Moore spoke out against a bill allowing abortions for child victims of rape "even after being made aware of the pregnant 9-year-old girl living in her district."
Similar claims spread over the months on social media platforms including Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived) and Reddit (archived).
In short, the claim was a mixture of true, false and undetermined information.
In early June 2025, for the third year in a row, Louisiana lawmakers rejected a bill that would have added exceptions for rape to the state's abortion ban. Namely, the bill would have allowed young rape victims to terminate their pregnancies. However, the proposed legislation did not reference any specific case of a pregnant 9-year-old. The claim stemmed from a statement by Moore, who said she was aware of a 9-year-old girl in her district who had become pregnant.
In response to our request for clarification, Moore said she was informed of the case sometime in the last year by someone who did not disclose the child's name but said the girl was from Morehouse Parish. However, we were unable to independently verify the existence or circumstances of the child mentioned.
Abortion law and recent bill on exceptions
Louisiana's abortion ban took effect in 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. That decision eliminated federal protections for abortion and allowed individual states to set their own laws. Under the state's law, abortion is banned except in limited cases, such as when the pregnant woman's life is at serious risk, the fetus is "medically futile" or in cases of ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage. There is currently no exception for rape or incest.
The in-question legislation was Democratic state Rep. Delisha Boyd's third attempt to create exceptions to Louisiana's abortion law. The proposed bill aimed to allow abortions for victims under 17 who became pregnant as a result of specific offenses such as rape or sexual battery that, if committed against a minor, would make an abortion legal in those cases. The bill said the victim wouldn't need to provide a police report, forensic evidence or proof that someone was being prosecuted for the crime in order to get the abortion.
Legislators discussed the bill during a House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice hearing on June 3, 2025.
As shown in the image below, the bill that "provides for exceptions to the abortion laws of this state relative to rape and certain sex offenses" received three votes in favor and nine votes against. Therefore, the measure did not proceed to the House floor for further consideration.
(Louisiana House of Representatives)
You can access the full text of the bill here.
A video circulating alongside the claims on Louisiana "denying abortion to 9-year-old rape victim" originated from an April 11, 2025, KLFY News 10 segment that aired before legislators voted on the bill.
Moore mentioned pregnant 9-year-old
Moore made the statement about the pregnant 9-year-old during the hearing at 38:57 of the video recording available via the Louisiana House of Representatives' official website. Moore stated that she was "aware of a nine year old, in [her] area, pregnant" and that she was struggling to reconcile her feelings about the case with her religious beliefs.
Moore also added that her mother was raped at the age of 13 and had her at 14. "So I do struggle with it. I know we got to protect our children, but this point right now, I cannot vote yes," she said.
Boyd, who authored the bill, also mentioned she was aware of a "Louisiana girl who was raped and gave birth at 13 years old and a 9-year-old girl who became pregnant after being sexually assaulted."
All in all, while it's true that Louisiana lawmakers rejected a bill that would have allowed abortion in cases of child rape, there was no confirmed evidence that the decision directly affected a specific 9-year-old. Moore mentioned being aware of such a case during the hearing, but we were unable to independently verify the claim. As of this writing, Louisiana abortion law does not include an exception for rape or incest.
- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpixLsRrfa8. Accessed 11 June 2025.
Agenda - Administration of Criminal Justice. https://legis.la.gov/legis/agenda.aspx?m=25110. Accessed 11 June 2025.
HB215. https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=248142. Accessed 11 June 2025.
---. https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=248142. Accessed 11 June 2025.
LA House On-Demand Video. https://house.louisiana.gov/H_Video/VideoArchivePlayer?v=house/2025/Jun/0603_25_CJ. Accessed 11 June 2025.
Louisiana House of Representatives 24-28. https://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/members?ID=102. Accessed 11 June 2025.
"Louisiana Lawmakers Reject Adding Exceptions for Some Rape Cases to Abortion Ban." AP News, 3 June 2025, https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-abortion-rape-exception-de8097eb664362941167c92d6ad356db.
Louisiana Laws - Louisiana State Legislature. https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=78689. Accessed 11 June 2025.