Missouri Senate joins anti-abortion wave with 8-week ban

The Associated Press

5 years ago

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson delivers his State of the State address Jan. 16, 2019, in Jefferson C ... — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson delivers his State of the State address Jan. 16, 2019, in Jefferson City, Mo. Parson on Wednesday, May 15, called on state senators to take action on a bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, the latest GOP-dominated state emboldened by the possibility that a more conservative Supreme Court could overturn its landmark ruling legalizing the procedure. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

During debate in the Missouri Senate in Jefferson City Wednesday, May 15, 2019, Freshman senator, Karla May, D-St. Louis, listens to opposing arguments regarding Missouri’s proposed new abortion law. Opponents of the bill have begun efforts to block it in that legislative body. The bill would prohibit an abortion after the unborn baby’s heartbeat is detected. (Sally Ince/The Jefferson City News-Tribune via AP)

This photograph released by the state shows Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signing a bill that virtually outlaws abortion in the state on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, in Montgomery, Ala. Republicans who support the measure hope challenges to the law will be used by conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision which legalized abortion nationwide. (Hal Yeager/Alabama Governor’s Office via AP)

Laura Stiller hands out coat hangers as she talks about illegal abortions during a rally against a ban on nearly all abortions outside of the Alabama State House in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. The legislation would make performing an abortion a felony at any stage of pregnancy with almost no exceptions. (Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)

FILE – In this Nov. 30, 2018, file photo, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court gather for a formal group portrait to include a new Associate Justice, top row, far right, at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. Seated from left: Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. Standing behind from left: Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan and Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. Alabama’s virtual ban on abortion is the latest and most far-reaching state law seemingly designed to prod the Supreme Court to reconsider a constitutional right it announced 46 years ago in the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s Republican-led Senate has passed a wide-ranging bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, acting only hours after Alabama’s governor signed a near-total abortion ban into law.

Senators voted 24-10 for the bill early Thursday. The proposed eight-week ban allows exceptions only in medical emergencies, not cases of rape or incest.

The measure now returns to the House for another vote on the Senate changes, ahead of a Friday deadline to pass bills.

Republican-led legislatures around the U.S. are imposing new restrictions, hoping more conservative justices will overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion.

Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy.