Roundup: Missouri Senate Wants to Remove Health Exception from Abortion Law

Beth Saunders

Missouri Senate passes bill to remove health exception from post-viability abortion law; groups sign onto letter asking for a budget bill without policy riders; women may have to think twice (!) before an abortion in Illinois; a new vaginal progesterone gel can help pregnant women with a shortened cervix.

Missouri Senate passes bill to remove health exception from post-viability abortion law; groups sign onto letter asking for a budget bill without policy riders; women may have to think twice (!) before an abortion in Illinois; a new vaginal progesterone gel can help pregnant women with a shortened cervix.

  • The Missouri Senate passed a bill that would remove the health exception from a law that bans abortion after fetal viability. The proposed legislation would only allow abortion after viability if a woman’s life was in imminent danger, or if the pregnancy would cause “permanent damage to a major bodily function.”
  • Several reproductive rights groups, including NOW and the Center for Reproductive Rights, signed onto a broad coalition letter of 154 non-profits called on the Senate and President Obama to reject any policy riders in a final budget bill being negotiated on the Hill. One of those riders includes a ban on allowing Washington, DC, residents to pay for abortions for qualifying residents with taxpayer dollars. (Please note that those taxpayer dollars come from DC residents, and the decision to pay for abortion comes from the DC Council, who is elected by those very same DC taxpayers.)
  • Here’s an insulting piece of local news reporting. Regarding an Illinois mandatory ultrasound bill, a radio station, WJBD, writes on their website, “Women looking to get an abortion may soon have to think twice about the decision.” Really? Two whole times? I don’t know if the female brain can handle that, with all the time it spends thinking about shoes.
  • A vaginal progesterone gel may help prolong pregnancy for women with a shortened cervix who are at risk for preterm delivery. The drug is still being tested, but if approved, it will likely cost $10-15 dose.

Apr 8

Apr 7