The Latest on Missouri’s proposed ban on abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy (all times local):
1:20 p.m.
A Missouri state lawmaker was met with hisses when he used the phrase “consensual rape” during a highly charged House debate on a bill that would ban abortions at eight weeks, including in cases of rape and incest.
Republican Rep. Barry Hovis, of Cape Girardeau, said in the chamber Friday that most of the sexual assaults he handled before retiring from law enforcement weren’t strangers “jumping out of the bushes” but instead “date rapes or consensual rapes.”
Abortion-rights supporters who attended the debate hissed in response.
St. Louis-area Democratic Rep. Raychel Proudie later assured the House that “there is no such thing as consensual rape.”
Hovis’ office hasn’t returned a message seeking comment.
Lawmakers passed the bill 110-44.
The comment was reminiscent of former Rep. Todd Akin, who lost the state’s U.S. Senate race in 2012 after saying women’s bodies can prevent pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape.”
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12:45 p.m.
Protesters against a Missouri bill banning abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy disrupted debate and marched through the halls of the state Capitol.
Dozens of abortion-rights supporters were told to leave the House visitors’ galleries Friday after interrupting debate with chants of “when you lie, people die” and “women’s rights are human rights.”
They then marched through the halls, stopping to chant outside Gov. Mike Parson’s office before circling around the House chamber.
They chanted “Vote no, now” as the Republican-led House was passing the legislation, then switched to chants of “shame, shame, shame.”
The legislation now goes to Parson, a Republican, who is expected to sign it into law.
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12:05 p.m.
Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature has approved a ban on abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy, and GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign it.
House lawmakers gave the sweeping abortion bill final approval Friday.
The proposed ban allows exceptions only in medical emergencies, not cases of rape or incest.
The Missouri legislation comes after Alabama’s governor signed a bill Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases.
Republican-led legislatures around the U.S. are imposing new abortion 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 have approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can occur in about the sixth week of pregnancy.
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11:30 p.m. Thursday
Missouri’s Republican-led House is expected to pass a bill to ban abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy and the state’s GOP governor is likely to sign it.
The GOP-led House is set to debate the sweeping abortion bill Friday in the final hours of the 2019 session.
The proposed ban allows exceptions only in medical emergencies, not cases of rape or incest.
The Missouri legislation comes after Alabama’s governor signed a bill Wednesday making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases.
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.