Missouri House sidesteps allowing lawsuits over helping women get abortions out of state
Missouri lawmakers have sidestepped an explosive proposal that would have allowed lawsuits against anyone helping Missouri women obtain abortions even if the procedure took place out of state.
During debate Tuesday on an abortion bill, the House briefly considered the measure before approving a substitute amendment — keeping it out of the legislation without forcing lawmakers to take a vote on it.
The proposal, from Arnold Republican Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, had sparked an outcry when it began circulating in the Capitol several weeks ago.
Like a similar law in Texas, the prohibitions could only be enforced through lawsuits filed by citizens. State government would have no enforcement authority. The U.S. Supreme Court has, for now, allowed the Texas law to remain in effect while courts consider challenges to it. Coleman’s measure went further by asserting authority over what happens outside of Missouri.
Shortly after Coleman offered the amendment, Rep. Brian Seitz, a Branson Republican, proposed a substitute amendment that replaced Coleman’s language with a criminal ban on trafficking abortion-inducing drugs when they are used to induce an abortion “in violation of any state or federal law.”
The House approved Seitz’s substitute 93-48.
Seitz’s original legislation included penalty enhancements if the abortion in question was to end an ectopic pregnancy, in which a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus. Ectopic pregnancies aren’t viable and can endanger the woman’s life. That proposal had caused its own uproar before a House committee removed that provision.
The version Seitz put forward on Tuesday didn’t include any references to ectopic pregnancy.
Coleman spoke in support of the overall bill but didn’t directly address the blocking of her amendment.
“The work is never ending because until we make abortion not just illegal but unthinkable, we have to make sure that women aren’t sold a lie that unlike men they can’t have their children and be successful, too,” Coleman said.
Democrats opposed the bill throughout the debate. “It is dangerous for women and it will make Missouri a laughingstock,” Rep. Sarah Unsicker, a Shrewsbury Democrat, said of Coleman’s amendment.
The House gave initial approval to the legislation in a voice vote. A final vote is possible later in the week.
