Group seeks ballot measure in Missouri that would ban nearly all abortions

We have Justice Kennedy's gratuitous tangent in Gonzales v. Carhart to thank for this.  Via the Associated Press:

An anti-abortion organization from Illinois is proposing a ballot measure in Missouri that would greatly increase the steps doctors would have to take before performing abortions and subject them to lawsuits from women who regret having the procedure.

The measure is proposed by the Elliot Institute, a Springfield, Ill.-based group that believes abortion causes long-term physical, psychological and emotional problems.

Supporters would have to gather about 90,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot in November 2008.

Abortion-rights supporters say the measure would essentially ban all abortions unless a woman's life is in danger. It makes no provisions for rape or incest victims.

Among other things, the "Prevention of Coerced and Unsafe Abortion Act" would require doctors to certify that a woman would die or suffer irreversible disability if she did not have an abortion. Otherwise, the doctor would have to document that carrying the fetus to term would be more dangerous than a combination of nearly every conceivable risk associated with abortion.