(Jefferson City) Missouri senators voted Wednesday against changing the state’s strict anti-abortion law that would have allowed exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
State Banned Nearly All Abortions After U.S. Supreme Court Overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Abortions are currently only legal “in cases of medical emergency.”
Democratic Sen. Tracy McCreery said Missouri’s current law goes too far and called on her colleagues to “show an ounce of compassion” toward people who have been victims of rape or incest.
“What we are told is: ‘We don’t care,’” lamented M.me McCreery on the state’s current abortion ban. “You will be forced to give birth, even if this pregnancy is the result of forced rape by a family member, a new acquaintance, an ex-husband or a stranger. »
The Democratic senator attempted to add amendments allowing exceptions for abortions in cases of rape or incest to a Republican-sponsored bill that would continue to block taxpayer funding from going to Planned Parenthood .
The two amendments of Mme McCreery were rejected along party lines in the Republican-led Senate, and debate on the underlying bill was halted before the final vote Wednesday.
Republican Sen. Rick Brattin said abortion was as much an atrocity as slavery and argued childbirth could help women recover from rape or an incestuous act.
“If you want to prosecute the rapist, let’s give him the death penalty. Absolutely, let’s do it,” Mr Brattin said. “But not the innocent person caught in the middle, because, by the grace of God, they might even be the best healing agent you need to recover from such an atrocity. »
Republican Senator Mike Moon voted in favor of the ban and bridged Rick Brattin’s comments calling for the castration of rapists.
But some Republicans said Missouri went too far in its abortion ban.
St. Louis resident Jamie Corley is leading a campaign to amend the state constitution to allow abortions for any reason up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. If the amendment of Mme Corley passed, abortions would also be allowed in cases of rape, incest and fatal fetal abnormalities until viability, which is typically around 24 weeks.
Another proposal put forward by Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups would enshrine abortion rights in the constitution while allowing the Republican-led Legislature to add laws regarding the procedure after the viability point.