Biden campaign rips ‘cruel and draconian’ MO bills allowing murder charges in abortion cases

The Biden campaign came out Monday hammering Missouri Republicans for proposed legislation in the state House and Senate that would allow murder charges to be brought against women who have had abortions, linking the proposal to the legacy of former President Donald Trump.

Julie Chávez Rodríguez, President Joe Biden’s campaign manager, told McClatchy and the Kansas City Star that the bills were “the latest in a series of cruel and draconian laws” emerging across the United States in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overruling of Roe v. Wade last year, a decision made possible after Trump installed three justices to the high court.

“When Donald Trump said there should be ‘some sort of punishment’ for women who seek out reproductive care, this is what he had in mind,” Chávez Rodríguez said. “Extreme MAGA Republicans in Missouri are following Trump’s lead by renewing a push to charge women who attempt to receive reproductive health care with murder.”

“This is just the latest in a series of cruel and draconian laws proposed by Republicans made possible in the year and a half since Trump’s Supreme Court justices voted to overturn Roe,” she said. “And make no mistake: Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans have no plans to stop here. If they have their way, every woman in this country could be facing punishment for seeking out the care they need under a national abortion ban. That’s what will be on the ballot next November.”

The response comes as part of Biden campaign’s overarching effort to tie every abortion ban or restriction back to Trump – a strategy that has secured state and local electoral victories for Democrats in otherwise hostile political environments over the past two years.

The pair of Missouri bills would give fetuses the same rights as human beings, which would allow for criminal charges to be filed against anyone who gets an abortion, helps someone get an abortion or provides abortion care in the state, which implemented a near-total ban on the procedure after last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

A pair of Republicans, state Sen. Mike Moon from Ash Grove and state Rep. Bob Titus, from Billings pre-filed the bills last week ahead of next year’s legislative session, which begins next month.