Missouri lawmakers are taking a stand against the anti-life legislation being passed in states across the country, with a measure deemed the most restrictive abortion bill in the United States.
“Missouri is not New York or Virginia,” Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr tweeted after the bill was introduced last month.
According to the Washington Times, House Bill 126 virtually combines every abortion restriction proposed in recent years into one measure, including abortion bans when a fetal heartbeat is detected (approximately six weeks gestation) and when a fetus can feel pain (around 20 weeks, according to the legislation). The bill also prohibits elective abortions for reasons having to do with race, gender, or diagnosis of Down syndrome. Additionally, the legislation cites a state law that determines brain activity to be a sign of life and bans abortions once brainwaves are detected, generally at eight weeks gestation. The bill also implements 14-week abortion bans, 18-week abortion bans, and 21-week abortion bans.
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Representative Nick Schroer, who introduced the original fetal-pain bill from which the current measure originated, explained that the bill is designed so that if one provision is overturned by a judge, another one can immediately take its place.
“Let’s say [a judge overturns our ban after] eight weeks, then it moves to 14 weeks,” Schroer said.
HB 126 also requires parental notification of both parents before a minor can receive an abortion.
It also includes protections for women seeking abortions. Under the medical malpractice provision, the bill prohibits physicians from performing abortions unless they have medical malpractice insurance with coverage amounts of at least one million dollars per occurrence.
Finally, it includes a “trigger clause” that would ban all abortions, with exceptions only for medical emergencies, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. LifeNews reports several other states — Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota — have also enacted bans that would be triggered if Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Haahr told the Washington Times, “We watched what happened to New York and Virginia, and it was somewhat of a call to action. The goal of this underlying bill is to protect the unborn in this state.”
Pro-life advocates are mobilizing to combat the anti-life legislation recently passed in states that fear Roe v. Wade will be overturned. Pro-lifers are especially concerned by what appears to be the Democratic Party’s approval of infanticide. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam said in a radio interview last month that he supports infanticide of babies who survive botched abortions, and Democrats have repeatedly blocked measures in Congress that would ensure babies born alive after an attempted abortion receive medical care.
Fortunately, the progressives behind these radical pro-abortion measures appear to be on the wrong side of the issue as opinion polls show that Americans’ support of abortion drops dramatically after the first trimester.
Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri have already threatened a court challenge if the HB 126 becomes law. “Reproductive health care is health care,” said M’Evie Mead, policy director of the Missouri organization. “Those attempting to restrict access to women’s healthcare must be called out for their real intention, running in a political race to be the state that overturns Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court.”
But Haahr, also an attorney, appears confident that the bill could withstand a legal challenge. He said lawmakers looked at abortion laws that had been struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit and used those examples to craft HB 126.
“We take and show [in House Bill 126] a significant amount of legislative findings, which multiple attorneys have told us is where other state abortion laws are falling short,” said Haahr.
The Missouri House approved the measure by a vote of 117-39, with three Democrats in support. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Democrats are threatening a filibuster, the Kansas City Star reports.
If the bill passes in the Senate, Republican Governor Mike Parson is expected to sign the bill into law. “As other states in our nation, like New York and Virginia, venture further and further away from the American ideal to uphold the right to life, I’m honored to lead a state with so many people committed to standing up for those without a voice,” Parson said.
Image: House.mo.gov
