Left-wing groups in Missouri, including the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, have launched an initiative to amend the state constitution to protect the right to abortion.
The proposed amendment uses vague language and would allow abortion up to viability, around 24 weeks, and afterward at the discretion of physicians.
If successful, the amendment would undo the state’s current abortion restrictions and make reproductive decisions, including abortion, private matters for patients and their families.
“The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions,” the ballot measure reads.
“The right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the Government demonstrates that such action is justified by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
“Any denial, interference, delay, or restriction of the right to reproductive freedom shall be presumed invalid. For purposes of this Section, a governmental interest is compelling only if it is for the limited purpose and has the limited effect of improving or maintaining the health of a person seeking care, is consistent with widely accepted clinical standards of practice and evidence-based medicine, and does not infringe on that person’s autonomous decision-making,” it adds.
“Notwithstanding subsection 3 of this Section, the general assembly may enact laws that regulate the provision of abortion after Fetal Viability provided that under no circumstances shall the Government deny, interfere with, delay, or otherwise restrict an abortion that in the good faith judgment of treating health care professional is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
“No person shall be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action based on their actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including but not limited to miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion.”
“Nor shall any person assisting a person in exercising their right to reproductive freedom with that person’s consent be penalized, prosecuted, or otherwise subjected to adverse action for doing so,” the language reads. “The Government shall not discriminate against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care or assisting another person in doing so.”
“Passing this amendment will end our state’s abortion ban and make sure Missourians and their families can once again make the decisions that are best for them,” ACLU’s Tori Schafer said. “We believe that decisions around pregnancy, including abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care, are personal and private. And that they should be left up to patients and their families.”
The coalition must collect 172,000 valid signatures by May 5 to qualify for the 2024 ballot, and the final decision on ballot placement would be up to Governor Mike Parson.
The initiative is part of a broader effort by pro-abortion activists to enshrine abortion rights in state constitutions following the 2022 collapse of Roe v. Wade.
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