JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature has approved a ban on abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, the latest in a rapid-fire…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature has approved a ban on abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, the latest in a rapid-fire series of states enacting the nation’s most restrictive anti-abortion measures.
Such « heartbeat laws » ban abortions at a point in a pregnancy when supporters say a heartbeat is regularly detectable and opponents say is before many women even know they’re pregnant.
The only exception to the new rule, which passed 110-44, would be in the case of medical emergencies — like a mother in danger of dying or irreversible impairment of bodily function — but not in cases of rape or incest.
The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who is expected to sign it.
« My administration will execute the laws the legislature passes, » Parson told reporters and abortion opponents at a campaign-style rally in his office Wednesday evening. « And this pro-life administration will not back down. »
Friday’s legislative maneuvering played out against a backdrop of emotional protests as opponents disrupted debate and marched through the halls of the state Capitol.
At one point, dozens of abortion-rights supporters were told to leave the House visitors’ galleries after chanting of “when you lie, people die” and “women’s rights are human rights.
