Missouri Abortion Bill: State Senate Passes 'Missouri Stands With The Unborn' Bill

In the wake of Alabama passing one of the strictest abortion laws in the country, Missouri appears to be not far behind.

The Missouri State Senate passed a bill on Thursday morning that its own authors have described as one of the country’s “stringent” anti-abortion bills. The bill, dubbed “Missouri Stands With The Unborn,” passed 24-10 in the largely Republican Senate. Under the bill, nearly all abortions in the state would be outlawed at eight weeks.

“Today the Missouri Senate passed one of the most pro-life bills in the United States: the Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act,” Sens. Dave Schatz and Caleb Rowden said in a statement. “This comprehensive, life-affirming legislation prohibits abortions once a heartbeat has been detected, prohibits abortions when a baby is capable of feeling pain, and would outlaw abortion in Missouri upon the reversal of Roe v. Wade.”

The bill will allow exceptions in cases of medical emergencies, but not in the case of rape or incest.

One more vote in the Missouri House of Representatives is needed to send the bill to Gov. Mike Parson, who supports the bill.

The bill marks the latest in a string of bills pushed by Conservative-controlled state legislatures that are being used to build against a possible challenge to Roe v. Wade. These include “heartbeat” bans in Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, and Ohio that bans abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is typically around six weeks.