Missouri lawmakers delete ectopic pregnancy provision from abortion bill after uproar
Missouri lawmakers on Tuesday removed a provision from an anti-abortion bill that critics said would criminalize ending ectopic pregnancies following condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans.
House Bill 2810 would have created the crime of trafficking abortion-inducing drugs or devices and prohibit anyone from delivering, prescribing or dispensing anything used for an abortion that violates state or federal law.
Under the first version of the bill, violations would have been a class A felony in some cases, punishable with 10 to 30 years in prison or a life sentence. That included if the abortion was performed on a woman with an ectopic pregnancy. Ectopic pregnancies occur when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus. They are not viable pregnancies and can threaten the life of the woman.
The measure sparked outrage. The Missouri House Democratic Caucus said the legislation underscored “the ignorance of all GOP abortion policy and the extreme measures they take to stand between a woman and her doctor.”
The bill sponsor, Branson Republican Rep. Brian Seitz, maintained it was misconstrued by its opponents. He pointed to wording in the bill that the criminal violations occurred only when the abortions were performed “in violation of any state or federal law” – and that it’s legal in Missouri to end ectopic pregnancies.
On Tuesday, the House Special Committee on Government Oversight voted to drop the ectopic pregnancy language.
“We removed the devices … and we also removed the language on ectopic pregnancy,” Rep. Jered Taylor, a Republic Republican and committee chair, said. “Those were the two concerns that the committee members shared in committee.”
Rep. Wes Rogers, a Kansas City Democrat, said the changes showed that the committee process worked. Many Democrats had “deep and serious concerns” about the original bill, he said.
“I appreciate the fact that people were willing to listen and realize the bill probably needed to be changed,” Rogers said, though he made clear he doesn’t plan to support the legislation.
The committee approved the modified bill in a 7-5 vote. It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what the altered bill does – the text wasn’t publicly available Tuesday afternoon.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 4:22 PM.
