Missouri Senate Poised to Consider Major Pro-life Legislation

On Monday, July 24, the Missouri Senate will reconvene to consider major pro-life legislation. House amended SB 5 is the strongest pro-life bill to be considered by the General Assembly in many decades.

If the Senate passes House amended SB 5, Governor Greitens has pledged to sign it.Please read the information below and then immediately contact your state Senator (visit www.mocatholic.org to easily send a message to your Senator).

Here is a list of the bill’s major provisions.

Highlights of House Amended SB 5:

• Overturns the St. Louis “abortion sanctuary” ordinance and prohibits other municipalities from passing similar ordinances; prohibits forcing religious schools to hire abortion advocates as teachers or landlords from renting to abortion clinics; prohibits harassment of pregnancy resource centers.

• Requires Missouri Department of Health to make annual, on-site and unannounced inspections of abortion facilities;

• Only physicians licensed to practice in the state of Missouri may perform or induce abortions in an abortion facility located in Missouri;

• Requires a doctor to provide medical information to a woman prior to an abortion decision;

• Requires an abortion doctor to obtain approval of a “complication plan” from the Missouri Department of Health for steps that will be taken when problems arise from administering a medication abortion;

• Requires abortion facilities to have written policies for managing an emergency and transferring patients to a hospital;

• Creates a Class A misdemeanor if abortion staff knowingly orders or requests medical first responders to deviate from standard protocols of emergency care;

• Requires all fetal tissue from abortion to be submitted to a board eligible pathologist for examination; pathologist must report to the Missouri Department of Health;

• Includes “whistleblower” protections for employees of an abortion facility who disclose information about possible health and safety violations of abortion law;