MO House Approves Abortion Waiting Period and State-Mandated Information

Kansas City Star: Missouri House backs new abortion mandates, by Kit Wagar & Jason Noble:

JEFFERSON CITY | Legislation that would require women and their doctors to run a gantlet of new requirements before terminating pregnancies was approved Thursday by the Missouri House.

Supporters said the bill would ensure that women were informed of all the risks associated with an abortion and protect them from being coerced into undergoing the procedure.

“This bill is designed to help all of us,” said Rep. Cynthia Davis, an O’Fallon Republican. “Women are being forced to have abortions by their boyfriends, their parents and their molesters. This bill is about freedom.”

But critics accused the majority of trying to block women from exercising their rights. The bill throws up so many requirements that abortions would actually become less safe and much harder to obtain, opponents said.