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A Republican state Representative in Missouri has proposed a measure that would make performing an abortion on a Missouri resident — or helping a Missouri resident get one — illegal.
State Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman has attached amendments to a number of abortion bills currently being considered within the state legislature, hoping that her amendment will become law should one of those measures pass.
Coleman’s legislation “would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a Missouri resident obtain an abortion out of state, using the novel legal strategy behind the restrictive law in Texas that since September has banned abortions in that state after six weeks of pregnancy,” The Washington Post reports.
There is only one abortion clinic in Missouri that currently provides services, a Planned Parenthood location in St. Louis. Thousands of residents travel out of state to get abortions each year.
Abortion rights activists say that Coleman’s amendment is unconstitutional, as it enforces state law on individuals who are not residents of Missouri, and is incongruent with interstate commerce rules.
The press officer for state media campaigns at Planned Parenthood, Olivia Cappello described Coleman’s proposal as “wild” and “bonkers.”
It’s unclear how the legislation, if passed, would actually be enforced in Missouri. Still, there are also fears that it could become a new normal in Republican-led states aiming to stop residents traveling to Democrat-led states for abortion access.
The majority-conservative Supreme Court’s potential to overturn or weaken Roe v. Wade only adds to these fears, with pro-choice activists suggesting that US decisions on abortion could set new, grim precedents across the world.
