The nationwide crusade against reproductive rights at the state level continues. The latest news comes from Missouri, where state House lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of a twenty-week abortion ban. The Kansas City Star reports:
If a pregnant woman's fetus can feel pain, she shouldn't be able to obtain an abortion unless it presents a risk to her health and safety, Missouri House members decided Tuesday.
A bill barring abortions after a fetus is capable of feeling pain sailed through the House on a 117-31 vote. Pregnancies deemed dangerous after the fetus is capable of feeling pain would be permissible if two doctors sign off, but Missouri House members want women's doctors to perform whatever procedure gives the fetus the best chance of survival.
Missouri currently has a 22-week abortion ban in place, but we know anti-choice extremists won’t stop chipping away at the legal right to abortion until it’s completely gone. The local extremist sponsor of the bill is state Rep. Donna Lichtenegger (R-Jackson), who is thrilled to continue using uteruses as baby incubators—instead of seeing the people who own them as autonomous human beings.
"If the baby survives, that's wonderful," Lichtenegger said. "If the baby does die, at least it died with dignity, and you can give a proper burial for that child."
Lichtenegger sponsored the bill, which would outlaw abortions for fetuses capable of feeling pain. She and supporters argued abortions create suffering for fetuses in later stages of gestation.
If only she had the same enthusiasm for regulating other people’s bodies as they did for facts and science. While Lichtenegger uses the concept of “fetal pain” to further restrict abortion access, reputable professionals say that she’s wrong. In January, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists took a stand against these deceitful fetal pain laws and affirmed that a fetus does not feel pain at 20 weeks when denouncing S. 2311: the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
This bill ignores scientific evidence regarding fetal inability to experience pain at that gestational age. In addition, the phrase “probable post-fertilization age” is not medically or clinically meaningful, as it is impossible to know the precise date of fertilization, except where fertilization is achieved through assisted reproductive technology. This language creates ambiguity that would leave abortion providers vulnerable to unwarranted punishment.
Not only are these types of laws aimed to punish people who seek and provide abortion care, but they’re also a huge waste of taxpayer time (and money, when the inevitable legal battles emerge!). The Guttmacher Institute says only 1 percent of abortions happen after 21 weeks.
Instead of trying to restrict abortion, maybe Missouri Republicans should make themselves useful and help their constituents who are already born and living. In fact, they should try to help the people who want to have kids because Missouri’s mortality rate is embarrassing, ranking in 42nd place.