Louisiana’s exclusive Veto Overridden Club now has three members, and two of them are named Edwards — current Gov. John Bel Edwards and the late-Gov. Edwin W. Edwards, both Democrats.

The late-Republican Gov. Buddy Roemer, who switched parties while in office, became the club’s first member in 1991 when he vetoed what was at that time one of the toughest anti-abortion measures in the country.

Those three are definitely the only members of the club since the state’s current constitution became effective on Jan. 1, 1975. And a June 11, 2015, report by NOLA.com/The Times Picayune said research had shown there were no vetoes overridden from 1812 when Louisiana joined the Union and 1974.

The same report called Edwin W. Edwards’ 1993 veto “more low-profile.” It involved a $3 million appropriation for then-state Attorney General Richard Ieyoub, a former Calcasieu Parish district attorney.

The current Gov. Edwards vetoed a congressional redistricting bill approved at a special session earlier this year because it didn’t create a second Black U.S. House district. His veto was overridden last Wednesday.

The bill that Roemer vetoed would have imprisoned doctors who performed abortions from 1 to 10 years. He also said exceptions in the bill allowing abortions for victims of rape and incest were too restrictively drawn. And he said lawmakers didn’t include his suggestion to allow abortions in cases where a fetus is so profoundly deformed that it wouldn’t live long past birth.

“The decision on whether to carry such a fetus to full term should be up to the woman and her family — not the Legislature,” he said.

The abortion bill had been overwhelmingly approved. The vote to override the veto was 29-9 in the state Senate and 76-25 in the House.

Legislators were hoping to use the bill as a test case to have the U.S. Supreme Court overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed women the constitutional right to an abortion.

Roemer was vindicated for his veto two years later when the nation’s highest court refused to revive what The Associated Press  called “Louisiana’s near-total ban on abortion.” A federal district judge had earlier struck down the law before it ever went into effect.

Edwin Edwards vetoed House Bill 1229 in 1993, an appropriations bill that cut Ieyoub’s budget by $3 million. He said Ieyoub told him the budget cut would seriously curtail his authority and activity. The House vote to override was 91-7 and the Senate vote was 34-4.

Legislators said Ieyoub agreed to take the budget cut and then used the governor to get the money back. State Rep. Emile “Peppi” Bruneau of New Orleans said at the time that Ieyoub stabbed the Legislature in the back.

“They come before you and say, ‘Yes, of course, we want to participate (in budget cuts),’ and then you turn around and you find daggers in your back with blood dripping from them,” Bruneau said.

Ieyoub insisted he never said the reduction wouldn’t seriously hurt his operations. “This bill will drastically impact my office and will ultimately cost the state more than $3 million,” Ieyoub said. “I never said it wouldn’t devastate our office.”

Legislators were quick to say their override wasn’t directed at Edwards. And the governor agreed no one was angry with him.

“I don’t think it brought down the wrath of the Legislature on me,”  Edwards said.

The current Gov. Edwards survived a veto override last year. The House fell two votes short of the 70 needed to uphold a law saying transgender students could only compete in school sports according to the sex listed on their birth certificates.

Edwards’ congressional redistricting veto was overridden in the House with a 72-31 vote with help from three independent lawmakers and one Democrat. The Senate vote was 27-11, strictly Republicans vs. Democrats.

GOP lawmakers were ecstatic over the outcome, one of them telling The Advocate, “It’s probably just the first veto override. We tried last year and failed. This time we broke down the door. He better be careful.”

The governor at a later news conference said, “It speaks so poorly of us, collectively, what transpired today. This was not our finest day.”

A coalition of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the congressional map, saying it dilutes the power of Black voters.

Today’s federal court system is much different from the one that existed when Roemer was governor. Edwards may not enjoy the same satisfaction Roemer must have experienced when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with his abortion veto.