Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the group that is sponsoring Amendment Three, said more than 800 Missouri medical professionals have endorsed the proposed constitutional amendment that would restore many abortions in the Show Me State.
That number includes Dr. Jennifer Smith, an OBGYN in St. Louis. Despite abortions being allowed to protect the life of the mother, Smith suggested there’s still confusion as to which medical conditions pose a threat.
“Patients with life threatening complications are scared and understandably so,” she said during a media conference call on Monday. “For the first time in my practice, I have had men telling me that no matter how much they want this pregnancy, they need me to promise to save their pregnant wives and partners first, even if it means losing the pregnancy itself.”
Missouri’s near-total abortion ban allows the procedure in cases where the mother’s life is in danger, but not for rape or incest. Dr. Betsy Wickstrom, a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist in Kansas City, agreed with Dr. Smith that the law is not clear enough to define what constitutes a threat to a pregnant woman’s life.
“If you have someone that needs a cancer treatment that may potentially harm the pregnancy, now they’re being advised to wait until after their pregnancy to have that lifesaving care,” Wickstrom said. “Why are we making people choose between their own lives and continuing a pregnancy in a forced birth situation?”
Opponents of Amendment Three said it would violate the Missouri Constitution’s single-subject rule because it would nullify other state laws related to reproductive health, such as the state’s ban on cloning.
Last week, the Missouri Supreme Court ordered Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft to place Amendment 3 back on the November ballot. He removed it after Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled that the amendment sponsors “purposefully” failed to mention that some statutes and other provisions would be repealed if Amendment 3 passes. The State Supreme Court disagreed.
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