Missouri lawmakers Monday moved forward a measure to ban elective late-term abortions, the
St. Louis Post Dispatch reported Tuesday.
The measure, which passed a House committee Monday, would prohibit an abortion after 20 weeks if the fetus is determined to be viable. Under the proposed law, exceptions could be made only in the case of a medical emergency or if the birth would present serious risk to the mother’s life. Two physicians would be required to confirm the exemption before the procedure could be performed.
Majority Floor Leader Tim Jones, a Eureka Republican who sponsored the bill, said he could "think of no one who is more in need" of the government's attention than an unborn child.
"If the state has no interest in life and viability and simply decides that life can be eradicated, then there will be no more life, there will be no more taxpayers, and the state will cease to exist," Jones said during debate last week.
The bill is expected to pass the House, and a similar bill is being considered in the state Senate.
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