Missouri's GOP attorney general says abortions after viability remain illegal under new amendment
Missouri's Republican attorney general says he still considers it illegal to provide abortions after fetal viability, despite a newly approved state abortion rights amendment
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — 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.”
“Under the express terms of the amendment, the government may still protect innocent life after viability,” Bailey wrote. “The statutes thus remain generally enforceable after viability.”
