Beginning with Operation Rescue, various pro-life organizations and publications have reported recently that Missouri is now abortion-free. The justification for this claim is the fact that the lone operational surgical abortion facility in the state did not provide any abortions in the month of December. Instead the St. Louis facility referred mothers to a facility 22 minutes away across the Illinois border.
This claim is quite ridiculous. Murdering a child is still perfectly legal in the state. Babies can be torn to shreds at the St. Louis facility. They can still be murdered at hospitals and OBGYN offices. They can still be murdered by abortifacient drugs. Given the existence of efforts to actually abolish abortion in the state, claiming the battle is already won is extremely unhelpful.
That battle is being led in the legislature by Missouri State Senator Mike Moon who has filed the Abolition of Abortion in Missouri Act (SB391), which would totally and immediately abolish abortion in the state. The bill establishes that “‘Person’, includes a human being from the moment of conception,” and that “This chapter shall be enforced in relation to abortion regardless of any contrary or conflicting federal acts, laws, treaties, decisions, orders, rules, or regulations. Any court decision purporting to enjoin this state from protecting innocent human life from the moment of conception shall be treated as nonauthoritative, void, and of no force.”
A particularly awesome section of Moon’s bill amends a much-hyped previously passed pro-life bill in Missouri. The pro-life bill began with some great language:
In recognition that Almighty God is the author of life, that all men and women are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life”, and that Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution of Missouri provides that all persons have a natural right to life, it is the intention of the general assembly of the state of Missouri to:
(1) Defend the right to life of all humans, born and unborn;
(2) Declare that the state and all of its political subdivisions are a “sanctuary of life” that protects pregnant women and their unborn children; and
Defending the right to life of all humans and making the state a “sanctuary of life” would seem to indicate that the bill intended to abolish abortion. But then in point three, the bill contradicts itself by inexplicably stating that:
(3)”[It is the intention of the general assembly of the state of Missouri to] [r]egulate abortion to the full extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States, decisions of the United States Supreme Court, and federal statutes in this state.”
Moon’s bill amends point three to read, “[it is the intention of the general assembly of the state of Missouri to] [r]egulate abolish abortion to the full extent permitted by the Constitution of the United States, decisions of the United States Supreme Court, and federal statutes in this state.”
The 2021 session will be Moon’s first year in the State Senate after terming out of the State House in which he had served since 2013. Moon also authored The Abolition of Abortion in Missouri Act in the State House in 2020.
SB391 now awaits a committee assignment. When it does, Missourians will need to be in contact with the chair of the committee demanding a hearing and vote for the bill.
Make sure to follow Free the States on Facebook and sign up for Abolish Abortion Missouri newsletter for updates!
Three things to do!
- Big tech is cracking down on our ability to reach you! Our social media reach has been greatly decreased in recent months. To make sure you are not missing important content and news about abolition bills from Free the States, sign up for email updates!
- Be an activist! Convert people in your community to abolitionism. The best brief resource in the Abolitionist Movement for turning pro-lifers into abolitionists is the Are You An Abolitionist pamphlet. The best quadfold for outreach to pro-aborts and evangelism is the Abortion is Murder And Everybody Knows it quadfold. You can pick up copies from the Free the States store, along with t-shirts, drop cards, stickers, and activism signs!
- Everything we produce is possible because of the support of our donors. Help fund the fight to abolish abortion! Help us add staff and expand our programs by becoming a monthly supporter of Free the States!