(The Lion) — Pro-life legislators are taking action in Missouri, and so is Virginia’s governor.
The Missouri House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act” 109-32 on Thursday, with four Democrats joining all Republicans in approving it.
The proposal would require doctors to “exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care provider would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.”
It would also allow people to hold abortionists civilly liable for causing the death of a child born alive following an attempted abortion, including deaths caused by negligence.
“This bill gives the infant a fighting chance,” said Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson, and a bill co-sponsor, during the House debate.
Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, stressed that the law wouldn’t take rights away from women.
“This bill isn’t an attack,” he said. “It’s a shield for the innocent.”
The legislation now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate for a vote. If approved there, it would go to Gov. Mike Kehoe, a first-term Republican, who is pro-life.
The Show-Me State now allows abortion up until fetal viability after the state amended its constitution via referendum in November 2024, with 51.6% voting yes and 48.4% opposing it.
Since the measure passed, lawmakers have been working on pro-life legislation that fits the confines of the amendment.
Virginia abortion law veto
Last week, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have criminalized pro-life sidewalk counselors and protestors within 40 feet of an abortion clinic.
Youngkin, a Republican, called the legislation an attack on free speech.
“This legislation is an unconstitutional time, place, and manner restriction on the God-given, constitutionally protected right to the freedom of speech. It creates new criminal penalties for what one might say or where they stand when they say it,” he wrote in his veto message. “If this bill were to become law, a citizen of the Commonwealth, the crucible of our representative democracy, could be jailed simply for carrying a sign.”
Since Virginia Democrats only have a 51 to 49 advantage over Republicans in the House of Delegates and a 21 to 19 advantage in the Senate, they lack the two-thirds of votes necessary to override Youngkin’s veto.
State law allows elective abortion in the first two trimesters of a pregnancy. Youngkin backs a 15-week limit on such abortions, but the Democratic Legislature opposes it.
