Missouri passes strict abortion laws

Missouri is poised to become the latest Republican-led state to enact a strict anti-abortion law, setting up a series of legal battles that could lead to the Supreme Court reconsidering Roe v. Wade.

The state’s Republican governor, Mike Parson, is expected to sign the bill into law. He has said he would make Missouri “one of the strongest pro-life states in the country.”

Missouri’s House of Representatives gave its final legislative approval in a 110-44 vote after protesters were removed from the public gallery. Missouri senators overwhelmingly approved the legislation on Thursday.

“Today, the Missouri House stood for the unborn,” the speaker of the house, Elijah Haahr, said in a statement. “The bold legislation we sent to the Governor’s desk is the strongest and most comprehensive pro-life bill in the country.”

The bill, HB 126, would prohibit abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy -- after a heartbeat is detected -- though many women often don't know they're pregnant in that time. The bill includes exceptions for what it defines as medical emergencies, such as cases when the mother's life is at risk or she is facing serious permanent injury, but not for pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest.

When asked whether he was comfortable with the bill's lack of exemptions for rape and incest, he said that he would sign the bill as is because "I'm the governor of the state of Missouri and that's what I do."

"I believe in the pro-life side of the issue," he added.

Parson said that the legislation meets the standard of "what I believe to be constitutional for our state." He anticipated that it would withstand a court challenge, adding that he thinks Roe should be overturned.

The bill's passage comes days after Alabama's abortion law -- the most restrictive in the country -- was signed by Gov. Kay Ivey. Under that law, doctors who performed abortions could be sentenced to life in prison. Alabama Republicans pushed the bill forward with the goal of it going before the Supreme Court, where they hope conservative justices will overturn the landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the US in 1973.