Missouri’s Republican-led House has passed a sweeping bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy on lawmakers’ final day in session Friday, joining Alabama and several other states that have moved recently to severely restrict the procedure.
The ban is among the most restrictive in the U.S. It includes exceptions for medical emergencies, but not for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Doctors would face five to 15 years in prison for violating the eight-week cutoff. Women who receive abortions wouldn’t be prosecuted.
Republican Gov. Mike Parson is likely to sign the bill.
“Until the day that we no longer have abortions in this country, I will never waver in the fight for life,” Parson said during a Wednesday rally with supporters of the legislation.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Leana Wen said in a statement that enacting the measure would be “disastrous.”
“Missouri Gov. Parson should be ashamed of riding the disgraceful coattails of 25 white men in Alabama who just voted to ban safe, legal abortion,” Wen said.
The Missouri legislation comes after Alabama’s governor signed a bill Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases.
PHOTO Caption: Protesters march through the halls of the Missouri Capitol outside the House chamber on Friday, May 17, 2019, in Jefferson City, Missouri, in opposition to legislation prohibiting abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy. Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature has passed a sweeping bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, and Republican Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign it. The House approved the measure Friday May 17, 2019.