SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Planned Parenthood Rally in New York City in 2011. (Photo: Charlotte Cooper)
Missourians Now Face One of Harshest Abortion Restrictions in Country
Legislators on Wednesday overrode governor's veto to force through 72-hour abortion wait time with no exceptions for rape or incest
Sep 11, 2014
Missouri lawmakers on Wednesday forced through one of the most severe abortion waiting periods in the country, tripling the amount of time a woman in the state must wait to terminate a pregnancy to 72 hours, leaving no exceptions for incest or rape.
Governor Jay Nixon had previously vetoed the new legislation due to its exclusion of the exceptions. But Missouri's GOP-controlled House on Wednesday voted 117-44 to overturn the governor's veto, with the Senate voting 23-7, thus enacting the law, which will go into effect in 30 days.
The bill passed despite opposition from state residents. According to Planned Parenthood, more than 3,700 Missourians called lawmakers urging them to oppose the bill. Hundreds of protesters opposing the expanded wait time rallied at the state capitol in Jefferson City on Wednesday.
"The legislators who took extraordinary measures to force this bill into law are way out of step with the more than 70% of Missourians who wanted them to allow the veto to stand," said Paula Gianino, President and CEO of Advocates, the political arm of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri.
Opponents of the restriction say it will have a disastrous impact on access to reproductive health care. The rule "will block access to safe, legal abortion and target women who already have the least access to medical care," said Laura McQuade, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.
The state only has one abortion provider, a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, and state residents seeking abortion are forced to travel an average of almost 100 miles to receive an abortion, according to Planned Parenthood. Missouri state law already forces patients to complete two health center visits and receive in-person counseling aimed at preventing abortion.
The expanded three-day wait period is the second longest in the country. South Dakota imposes a 72-hour wait period which can extend even longer, as it excludes weekends and holidays. Utah also imposes a 72-hour wait but makes exceptions for rape and incest. Half of all states impose a mandatory wait period of at least 24 hours for those seeking abortions, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
Missouri lawmakers on Wednesday forced through one of the most severe abortion waiting periods in the country, tripling the amount of time a woman in the state must wait to terminate a pregnancy to 72 hours, leaving no exceptions for incest or rape.
Governor Jay Nixon had previously vetoed the new legislation due to its exclusion of the exceptions. But Missouri's GOP-controlled House on Wednesday voted 117-44 to overturn the governor's veto, with the Senate voting 23-7, thus enacting the law, which will go into effect in 30 days.
The bill passed despite opposition from state residents. According to Planned Parenthood, more than 3,700 Missourians called lawmakers urging them to oppose the bill. Hundreds of protesters opposing the expanded wait time rallied at the state capitol in Jefferson City on Wednesday.
"The legislators who took extraordinary measures to force this bill into law are way out of step with the more than 70% of Missourians who wanted them to allow the veto to stand," said Paula Gianino, President and CEO of Advocates, the political arm of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri.
Opponents of the restriction say it will have a disastrous impact on access to reproductive health care. The rule "will block access to safe, legal abortion and target women who already have the least access to medical care," said Laura McQuade, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.
The state only has one abortion provider, a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, and state residents seeking abortion are forced to travel an average of almost 100 miles to receive an abortion, according to Planned Parenthood. Missouri state law already forces patients to complete two health center visits and receive in-person counseling aimed at preventing abortion.
The expanded three-day wait period is the second longest in the country. South Dakota imposes a 72-hour wait period which can extend even longer, as it excludes weekends and holidays. Utah also imposes a 72-hour wait but makes exceptions for rape and incest. Half of all states impose a mandatory wait period of at least 24 hours for those seeking abortions, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
Missouri lawmakers on Wednesday forced through one of the most severe abortion waiting periods in the country, tripling the amount of time a woman in the state must wait to terminate a pregnancy to 72 hours, leaving no exceptions for incest or rape.
Governor Jay Nixon had previously vetoed the new legislation due to its exclusion of the exceptions. But Missouri's GOP-controlled House on Wednesday voted 117-44 to overturn the governor's veto, with the Senate voting 23-7, thus enacting the law, which will go into effect in 30 days.
The bill passed despite opposition from state residents. According to Planned Parenthood, more than 3,700 Missourians called lawmakers urging them to oppose the bill. Hundreds of protesters opposing the expanded wait time rallied at the state capitol in Jefferson City on Wednesday.
"The legislators who took extraordinary measures to force this bill into law are way out of step with the more than 70% of Missourians who wanted them to allow the veto to stand," said Paula Gianino, President and CEO of Advocates, the political arm of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri.
Opponents of the restriction say it will have a disastrous impact on access to reproductive health care. The rule "will block access to safe, legal abortion and target women who already have the least access to medical care," said Laura McQuade, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.
The state only has one abortion provider, a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, and state residents seeking abortion are forced to travel an average of almost 100 miles to receive an abortion, according to Planned Parenthood. Missouri state law already forces patients to complete two health center visits and receive in-person counseling aimed at preventing abortion.
The expanded three-day wait period is the second longest in the country. South Dakota imposes a 72-hour wait period which can extend even longer, as it excludes weekends and holidays. Utah also imposes a 72-hour wait but makes exceptions for rape and incest. Half of all states impose a mandatory wait period of at least 24 hours for those seeking abortions, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.