Missouri's Republican attorney general has pledged to enforce some laws restricting abortion despite a new constitutional amendment widely expected to undo the state's near-total ban on the procedure. In an opinion requested by incoming GOP governor Mike Kehoe, Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote that his office will continue enforcing a ban on abortion after fetal viability. There is an exception carved out in the amendment for cases in which a health care provider deems an abortion necessary to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”

Shocked Pikachu face that voting to protect abortion rights while continuing to vote for Republicans will result in no abortion rights for your state.

Faces and leopards.

  • @[email protected]English
    29•1 day ago

    No leopards here. The title of the article is deceptive because it implies that the attorney general is acting contrary to the new amendment. Actually that amendment explicitly allows for abortion after viability to be illegal.

    Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:

    establish a right to make decisions about reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, with any governmental interference of that right presumed invalid;

    remove Missouri’s ban on abortion;

    allow regulation of reproductive health care to improve or maintain the health of the patient;

    require the government not to discriminate, in government programs, funding, and other activities, against persons providing or obtaining reproductive health care;

    and allow abortion to be restricted or banned after Fetal Viability except to protect the life or health of the woman?

    (That’s the text of the ballot measure. The longer text of the actual amendment is substantially similar. It is available in this pdf.)

    The voters approved a ban on abortion after viability. They’re not being surprised by this.

    • @kofeEnglish
      16•1 day ago

      Yep. We approved it because it’s that or continue with a total ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, to be clear. We had some of the strictest laws in the country on abortion, juxtaposed by some of the most lax on gun control.

      Oh and we also just banned ranked choice voting, so. This state is weird.