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Leader Aune: “Missouri voters have spoken loud and clear."
House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, filed House Bill 1304 today to fulfill the will of Missouri voters by repealing statutory restrictions on abortion rendered unconstitutional by the recent passage of Amendment 3, which enshrined reproductive rights in the state constitution.
Among the litany of unconstitutional state laws and regulations this bill would void is the state’s total abortion ban, a required waiting period on patients seeking an abortion, various criminal penalties and codes related to providing abortion care, the ban on telemedicine options and many more.
“Missouri voters have spoken loud and clear on the issue of abortion access,” Aune said. “We must bring our state laws in-line with the Constitution without any more delay, and Democrats will continue to use every avenue possible to make that happen.”
Despite Missouri voters’ ratification of Amendment 3, the state’s near-total statutory ban on abortion, along with other restrictions, remain on the books, although they are now unconstitutional and have largely been blocked in court.
Every day the state’s total abortion ban and other restrictions linger – even in a dormant legal stasis – is another failure of the state to fully protect the constitutional rights of its citizens. The goal of Missouri’s elected Democrats is to provide Missourians with what they voted for, not attempt to undermine it.
Missourians have a constitutional right to access abortion care without delay and courts are obligated to presume restrictions on reproductive healthcare to be “invalid” except in extremely limited circumstances.
Because Republican state officials are dragging their feet on making that “presumption,” House Democrats are taking proactive steps to restore these constitutional rights and are calling on all members of the Missouri House and Senate to do their jobs and support this non-partisan bill.
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