JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Republican Missouri lawmakers are pushing measures opponents say will ban abortions, as well as fetal-tissue donation from those procedures.
A House committee heard testimony Tuesday on the proposals but didn’t vote.
Rep. Mike Moon’s proposal would ask voters to decide whether to add “unborn human children at every stage of biological development” to an existing provision of the state Constitution protecting people’s “right to life.”
Opponents say that would ban abortion, which Moon disputed. Similar proposals in other states have failed to win federal court approval.
Rep. Kathy Swan’s bill would ban fetal-tissue donation. It follows undercover videos released last summer purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted fetal body parts. Planned Parenthood denies wrongdoing.
Measures similar to Swan’s are awaiting debate in both chambers.