Missouri activated a ‘trigger law’ banning the procedure
FILE PHOTO: Pro-choice supporters and staff of Planned Parenthood hold a rally outside the Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center in St. Louis, Missouri. © SAUL LOEB / AFP
Missouri has banned performing or inducing an abortion except in case of “medical emergency” under a “trigger law” activated by the Supreme Court’s repeal of Roe v Wade’s federal abortion protections on Friday.
The top court’s decision cleared the way for states to adopt their own laws governing abortion. A 2019 law passed by the Missouri legislature, which declares that “no abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman, except in cases of medicalemergency,” is explicitly set to take effect after the Supreme Court “has overruled, in whole or in part, Roe v Wade.”
The so-called trigger law has been activated by state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who signed it into action in the wake of the Supreme Court decision on Friday, declaring it a “monumental day for the sanctity of life.”
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The law makes performing or inducing an abortion a class B felony punishable by five to 15 years in prison. Unlike many laws governing abortion, it does not make exceptions for rape or incest. Additionally, it does not allow the prosecution of women who receive abortions.
