Current Missouri Abortion Law
There is NOT a total ban on abortion in Missouri
Chapter 188 RSMo
Chapter 188 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo) deals with abortion. Click here to go to it.
188.17 RSMo:
1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Right to Life of the Unborn Child Act".
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman, except in cases of medical emergency. Any person who knowingly performs or induces an abortion of an unborn child in violation of this subsection shall be guilty of a class B felony, as well as subject to suspension or revocation of his or her professional license by his or her professional licensing board. A woman upon whom an abortion is performed or induced in violation of this subsection shall not be prosecuted for a conspiracy to violate the provisions of this subsection.
3. It shall be an affirmative defense for any person alleged to have violated the provisions of subsection 2 of this section that the person performed or induced an abortion because of a medical emergency. The defendant shall have the burden of persuasion that the defense is more probably true than not.
*4. The enactment of this section shall only become effective upon notification to the revisor of statutes by an opinion by the attorney general of Missouri, a proclamation by the governor of Missouri, or the adoption of a concurrent resolution by the Missouri general assembly that:
(1) The United States Supreme Court has overruled, in whole or in part, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), restoring or granting to the state of Missouri the authority to regulate abortion to the extent set forth in this section, and that as a result, it is reasonably probable that this section would be upheld by the court as constitutional;
(2) An amendment to the Constitution of the United States has been adopted that has the effect of restoring or granting to the state of Missouri the authority to regulate abortion to the extent set forth in this section; or
(3) The United States Congress has enacted a law that has the effect of restoring or granting to the state of Missouri the authority to regulate abortion to the extent set forth in this section. 188.15 RSMo: (Definitions) Definitions. — As used in this chapter, the following terms mean:
(1) "Abortion":
(a) The act of using or prescribing any instrument, device, medicine, drug, or any other means or substance with the intent to destroy the life of an embryo or fetus in his or her mother's womb; or
(b) The intentional termination of the pregnancy of a mother by using or prescribing any instrument, device, medicine, drug, or other means or substance with an intention other than to increase the probability of a live birth or to remove a dead unborn child;
(2) "Abortion facility", a clinic, physician's office, or any other place or facility in which abortions are performed or induced other than a hospital;
(3) "Affiliate", a person who or entity that enters into, with an abortion facility, a legal relationship created or governed by at least one written instrument, including a certificate of formation, a franchise agreement, standards of affiliation, bylaws, or a license, that demonstrates:
(a) Common ownership, management, or control between the parties to the relationship;
(b) A franchise granted by the person or entity to the affiliate; or
(c) The granting or extension of a license or other agreement authorizing the affiliate to use the other person's or entity's brand name, trademark, service mark, or other registered identification mark;
(4) "Conception", the fertilization of the ovum of a female by a sperm of a male;
(5) "Department", the department of health and senior services;
(6) "Down Syndrome", the same meaning as defined in section 191.923;
(7) "Gestational age", length of pregnancy as measured from the first day of the woman's last menstrual period;
(8) "Medical emergency", a condition which, based on reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert the death of the pregnant woman or for which a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman;
(9) "Physician", any person licensed to practice medicine in this state by the state board of registration for the healing arts;
(10) "Reasonable medical judgment", a medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved;
(11) "Unborn child", the offspring of human beings from the moment of conception until birth and at every stage of its biological development, including the human conceptus, zygote, morula, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus;
(12) "Viability" or "viable", that stage of fetal development when the life of the unborn child may be continued indefinitely outside the womb by natural or artificial life-supportive systems;
(13) "Viable pregnancy" or "viable intrauterine pregnancy", in the first trimester of pregnancy, an intrauterine pregnancy that can potentially result in a liveborn baby.
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman, except in cases of medical emergency. Any person who knowingly performs or induces an abortion of an unborn child in violation of this subsection shall be guilty of a class B felony, as well as subject to suspension or revocation of his or her professional license by his or her professional licensing board. A woman upon whom an abortion is performed or induced in violation of this subsection shall not be prosecuted for a conspiracy to violate the provisions of this subsection.
3. It shall be an affirmative defense for any person alleged to have violated the provisions of subsection 2 of this section that the person performed or induced an abortion because of a medical emergency. The defendant shall have the burden of persuasion that the defense is more probably true than not.
*4. The enactment of this section shall only become effective upon notification to the revisor of statutes by an opinion by the attorney general of Missouri, a proclamation by the governor of Missouri, or the adoption of a concurrent resolution by the Missouri general assembly that:
(1) The United States Supreme Court has overruled, in whole or in part, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), restoring or granting to the state of Missouri the authority to regulate abortion to the extent set forth in this section, and that as a result, it is reasonably probable that this section would be upheld by the court as constitutional;
(2) An amendment to the Constitution of the United States has been adopted that has the effect of restoring or granting to the state of Missouri the authority to regulate abortion to the extent set forth in this section; or
(3) The United States Congress has enacted a law that has the effect of restoring or granting to the state of Missouri the authority to regulate abortion to the extent set forth in this section. 188.15 RSMo: (Definitions) Definitions. — As used in this chapter, the following terms mean:
(1) "Abortion":
(a) The act of using or prescribing any instrument, device, medicine, drug, or any other means or substance with the intent to destroy the life of an embryo or fetus in his or her mother's womb; or
(b) The intentional termination of the pregnancy of a mother by using or prescribing any instrument, device, medicine, drug, or other means or substance with an intention other than to increase the probability of a live birth or to remove a dead unborn child;
(2) "Abortion facility", a clinic, physician's office, or any other place or facility in which abortions are performed or induced other than a hospital;
(3) "Affiliate", a person who or entity that enters into, with an abortion facility, a legal relationship created or governed by at least one written instrument, including a certificate of formation, a franchise agreement, standards of affiliation, bylaws, or a license, that demonstrates:
(a) Common ownership, management, or control between the parties to the relationship;
(b) A franchise granted by the person or entity to the affiliate; or
(c) The granting or extension of a license or other agreement authorizing the affiliate to use the other person's or entity's brand name, trademark, service mark, or other registered identification mark;
(4) "Conception", the fertilization of the ovum of a female by a sperm of a male;
(5) "Department", the department of health and senior services;
(6) "Down Syndrome", the same meaning as defined in section 191.923;
(7) "Gestational age", length of pregnancy as measured from the first day of the woman's last menstrual period;
(8) "Medical emergency", a condition which, based on reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert the death of the pregnant woman or for which a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman;
(9) "Physician", any person licensed to practice medicine in this state by the state board of registration for the healing arts;
(10) "Reasonable medical judgment", a medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case and the treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved;
(11) "Unborn child", the offspring of human beings from the moment of conception until birth and at every stage of its biological development, including the human conceptus, zygote, morula, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus;
(12) "Viability" or "viable", that stage of fetal development when the life of the unborn child may be continued indefinitely outside the womb by natural or artificial life-supportive systems;
(13) "Viable pregnancy" or "viable intrauterine pregnancy", in the first trimester of pregnancy, an intrauterine pregnancy that can potentially result in a liveborn baby.