Mo. latest state with abort-ban bill

The wave of anti-abortion legislature has spread from the South to the Midwest.

Missouri’s Republican-led House of Representatives on Friday overwhelmingly approved a ban on abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy — making it the third state to pass a similar restriction in just two weeks.

The controversial bill includes exceptions if the mother’s life is in danger, but not for rape or incest, and recommends up to 15 years in prison for doctors who illegally provide an abortion. Gov. Mike Parson (inset), a Republican, is expected to sign the legislation.

House Speaker Elijah Haar called it the country’s strongest “pro-life bill.”

The vote came amid protests from abortion-rights activists. Some shouted “shame, shame, shame” after the session while others, dressed as characters from Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” watched the debate in silence, the Associated Press reported.

Emboldened by a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, Republican lawmakers throughout the country have aggressively pushed for strict abortion bans in an effort to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized the procedure nationwide.

The vote comes two days after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a near-total ban on abortion.

Earlier this month, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed another restrictive ban. The legislation bans abortions once a heartbeat is detected, but it provides exceptions for incest and rape — if the mother files a police report first.

In Mississippi, a similar sixweek ban is set to become law in the summer.

Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country, called the latest ban a “monster anti-abortion bill” and vowed to fight the legislation in court.