Missouri governor signs bill banning abortion at eight weeks
● Law to come in on August 28 ● Legal challenge is expected
The governor of Missouri has signed a bill that bans abortion from the eighth week of pregnancy – without exceptions for cases of rape or incest – making it among the most restrictive policy in the US.
Under the law that comes into force on 28 August, doctors who violate the eightweek cut- off could face five to 15 years in prison.
A legal challenge is expected, although it is unclear when that might occur.
The measure includes exceptions for medical emergencies, such as when there is a risk of death or permanent physical injuries to “a major bodily function of the pregnant woman”. But women who become pregnant after being raped or subjected to incest will not be allowed to abort after eight weeks.
Women who terminate their pregnancies cannot be prosecuted under the law.
When pressed last week on the rape and incest issue, governor Mike Parson, a Republican, told reporters that “all life has value”.
President Donald Trump has said he supports exceptions in cases of rape and incest.
Missouri businessman Davi d Humphreys, a wealt hy Republican donor, had urged Mr Parson to veto the bill.
“A bill this restrictive, without the opportunity for exceptions for rape and incest, is bad public policy and bad for Missourians,” Mr Humphreys said.
Alabama’s governor signed a bill on 15 May making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases.
Supporters have said they hope to provoke a legal challenge that will eventually force the Supreme Court to revisit its landmark 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling that legalised abortion nationally.
Unlike Alabama’s near- total abortion ban, legislators who helped draft the Missouri bill say it is meant to withstand court challenges instead of spark them. If the eightweek ban is struck down, the bill includes a ladder of less restrictive time limits at 14, 18 or 20 weeks.
Missouri’s bill also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies, but that would kick in only if the Roe vs Wade decision that legalised abortion is overturned.
Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia have also approved bans on abortions once foetal cardiac activity can be detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy.
Some of those laws have already been challenged in court, and similar restrictions in North Dakota and Iowa have been struck down by judges.
Missouri already has some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion regulations, including a requirement that doctors performing abortions have partnerships with nearby hospitals.
Missouri is down to one clinic performing abortions, which is in St Louis. A total of 3,903 abortions occurred in Missouri in 2017, the last full year for which the state Department of Health has statistics online.
Of those ,1,673 occurred at under nine weeks and 119 occurred at 20 weeks or later in a pregnancy.
The bill also bans ab ortions based solely on race, sex or a diagnosis indicating the potential for Down’s syndrome.