After Alabama, Three More States Look to Pass Pro-Life Bills

Brittany M. Hughes | May 16, 2019
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Following the lead of states like Ohio, Georgia and Alabama, three more Republican-led states are looking to place their own historic restrictions on abortion with pro-life legislation aimed at protecting pre-born lives.

Missouri’s "Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act” seeks to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat or brain activity can be detected – usually around six weeks into a pregnancy – and outright bans abortion after eight weeks. The measure does include exceptions for life-threatening medical reasons, but doesn’t include rape or incest exemptions. It also contains a so-called “trigger” clause stating that abortion will be outlawed entirely across the state in the event that Roe v. Wade is eventually overturned by the Supreme Court.

The bill has already passed the GOP-controlled Senate and will head to the House for one final vote before being sent to Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who’s already said he’ll sign the bill into law.

Down in Louisiana, the state legislature is moments away from passing their own “heartbeat bill” that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, a measure Gov. John Bel Edwards has already promised to sign if it’s passed in the GOP-controlled state houses. Looking to avoid an expensive legal battle, though, whether the measure will actually go into effect is dependent on whether or not the courts uphold similar legislation that’s already being challenged in Mississippi.

And, while things aren’t quite so progressively pro-life up in Michigan just yet, the state legislature this week passed a bill banning dilation and evacuation abortions commonly performed in the second and third trimesters, in which unborn children are poisoned before being dissected and removed piece-by-piece from their mother’s womb. 

Because for some reason, that’s still something that’s up for debate in 2019 America.

For her part, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said she’ll veto the bill; however, pro-life groups are already gearing up for that move, saying they’ll invoke a clause in the state’s constitution that allows the state legislature to turn a bill into law without the governor’s signature if it receives a public petition with at least 400,000 signatures.

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