An attempt to restrict voter-approved abortion rights is halfway through the Missouri Legislature.
The state House of Representatives has passed House Joint Resolution 73. The proposed ballot measure would ask voters to allow limited abortion exceptions for medical emergencies, fetal abnormalities, and cases of rape or incest for up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
After an initial House vote this week on the proposal, protesters spoke out in an upper public seating area of the chamber. Many Democrats stood up and applauded the demonstrators. House security escorted the protesters out of the chamber.
Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson, is sponsoring the proposal.
“Voters in the past few years were given the choice between two extremes, choices with no middle ground, zero abortions or what we have now. There was no position to take via the ballot or in legislation that offered the middle ground, which is where most Missourians lie,” said Seitz.
Last November, nearly 52% of Missouri voters approved abortion up to the point in pregnancy that a fetus is likely to survive outside of the uterus.
“This is not Democracy in action. This is authoritarianism in action,” said House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City.
The proposal would also ask voters to ban gender transitions among children – leading some Democrats to question whether the component breaks a Constitutional rule requiring a single subject.
Rep. Raychel Proudie, D-Ferguson, did not hold back on her opposition to HJR73.
“I don’t know who we think we are to assume that the people did not know what they were voting for on the same day they voted for us. It’s funny when we dilly dally and choose when the people know best and when they can’t. I want to get pregnant. I don’t know if I have to ask the governor first because obviously my vagina is not mine. It belongs to the state of Missouri apparently,” she said.
Proudie said she does not want history to remember state lawmakers as “strong-arming voters.”
“We’re not going to win this vote on this side, and we’re not going to go and storm the Capitol. We’re not going to come here with AR-15s to intimidate and scare to show and call it a Constitutional right, knowing that it’s causing harm. We’re going to take it on the chin, and we’re going to do what we have to do. And that’s how I want history to remember us, not as the sore losers, not as the people who would do and say anything to get their way and then call ourselves Christian. That’s not what Jesus would do,” said Proudie.
Is the will of the people being subverted? Not according to Rep. Justin Sparks, R-Wildwood. He said voters are going to be asked again about abortion restrictions.
“My suspicion is that the other side of the aisle is afraid that the truth will finally come out,” said Sparks. “And when the people have a second chance at Amendment 3, that they will, in fact, change how they voted.”
Aune disagrees and referenced legislation that Sparks is sponsoring – House Bill 1072.
“I think that what Representative Sparks is going down in history as someone who is so vehemently against women that he wants them to be prosecuted for abortion,” said Aune. “He’s talking about women who have been sexually assaulted. He’s talking about young girls who have been victimized by family members. Missourians on this side of the issue are not afraid of this going back on the ballot. We know we’ll win again and frankly we’ll win by more.”
If the legislature passes HJR73 and voters reject the proposal, will Republicans stop fighting to restrict abortions?
“No in fact, they told us that two days ago. They explicitly said, if this loses at the ballot, they’re going to come back and try again,” said Aune. “And it boggles the mind.”
If voters approve the measure, will Democrats continue to fight to expand abortion rights?
“Absolutely, and the reason for that is how deceptive this ballot language is. They (Republicans) are not operating in good faith,” said Aune. “They are not putting this ballot initiative in front of voters in good faith. They are using ballot candy. They are obfuscating the issue. They are trying to reinstate an abortion ban with language saying that they are expanding access to care.”
The House vote of 103-51 was mainly along party lines. Speaker Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, opposed the proposal because he said he does not think his constituents would be in favor of the wording.
“I don’t think they would be in favor of a repeal,” he said. “I do think that my district, like Missourians, their feelings on abortion lies somewhere in between.”
The measure heads to the Republican-controlled Missouri Senate for additional debate.
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