Louisiana governor: Abortion ban decision wasn’t political

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. John Bel Edwards, the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, says he’s not concerned about losing support among his party’s voters because of a strict abortion ban he signed into law.

The Louisiana governor says he knows some people were disappointed that he supported the ban on abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected _ as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

But he said Tuesday that his decision on the legislation wasn’t a political one. He says he was “being true” to himself and consistent with how he ran for the governor’s job, as an anti-abortion candidate.

Edwards, running for reelection on the October ballot, has faced Democratic criticism for signing the abortion ban _ including criticism from the head of the Louisiana Democratic Party.