Missouri sets 72-hour wait for women seeking abortions

Sep 12 2014

The Republican-controlled legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's veto to enact one of the most stringent waiting periods in the nation that includes no exception for cases of rape or incest.

The Associated Press: Missouri Enacts 72-Hour Abortion Waiting Period
Missouri women seeking abortions will face one of the nation's most stringent waiting periods, after state lawmakers overrode the governor's veto to enact a 72-hour delay that includes no exception for cases of rape or incest. The new requirement will take effect 30 days after Wednesday's vote by the Republican-led Legislature, overruling the veto of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. He had denounced the measure as "extreme and disrespectful" toward women (Lieb, 9/11).

Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader/USA Today: Mo. Overrides Veto Of 3-Day Abortion Waiting Period
Missouri lawmakers forced an extension of the state's abortion waiting period into law late Wednesday night after Republicans used a rare parliamentary tactic to kill a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. The House took the first step to forcing a 72-hour abortion waiting period into law early in the evening. The Senate began debating the measure soon after and passed it at about 11:30 p.m. Central Time (Shorman, 9/11).

Also in Missouri, a legislator challenges the health law's mandate that insurers cover birth control -

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Lawmaker, Wife, Ask Court For Contraception Insurance Exclusion
A family should have the same right as a small business to opt out of birth control coverage in its health care plan, the lawyer for a Missouri legislator argued Monday before a federal appeals court. Rep. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, and his wife, Teresa, say the contraceptive benefit required by the Affordable Care Act violates their religious beliefs as Catholics and parents of three daughters (Mann, 9/09).

MSNBC: Missouri Lawmaker Suing To Deny Daughters Birth Control Access
One Missouri lawmaker has taken the fight against birth control coverage to a new and very personal place: His own daughters, two of whom are adults. State Rep. Paul Joseph Wieland and his wife Teresa are suing the Obama administration over its minimum coverage requirements for health plans under the Affordable Care Act, which includes contraception. They say the government is forcing them to violate their religious beliefs because they have three daughters, ages 13, 18 and 19, who are on their parents' plan and might get birth control at no additional cost (Carmon, 9/10).

And in Texas, a candidate's abortion disclosure gets attention -

Texas Tribune: Davis' Abortion Draws Attention To New Restrictions
State Sen. Wendy Davis has grabbed headlines across the country for her dramatic and heart-rending disclosures, contained in a new memoir, about an abortion that came late in her 1997 pregnancy. The discussion is shedding light on a provision in the restrictive abortion legislation she tried in vain to stop last year -; the part that bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, including in many cases when there are fetal abnormalities. Leading abortion rights experts on both sides of the issue say a woman facing the same circumstance in Texas today -; assuming it arose after the 20-week mark -; probably would not be allowed to terminate her pregnancy (Root, 9/11).