SPONSOR: Dogan
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Children and Families by a vote of 7 to 2.
This bill prohibits any person from performing or inducing an abortion on a woman if the person knows that the woman is seeking the abortion solely because of a prenatal diagnosis, test, or screening indicating Down Syndrome or the potential of Down Syndrome in an unborn child. Additionally, this bill prohibits any person from performing or inducing an abortion on a woman if the person knows that the woman is seeking the abortion solely because of the sex or race of the unborn child.
Currently, all attending physicians must complete an abortion report for each abortion performed. This bill requires the physician to include in that report a certification that the physician does not have any knowledge that the woman sought the abortion solely because of a prenatal diagnosis, test, or screening indicating Down Syndrome or the potential of Down Syndrome in an unborn child, as well as a certification that the physician does not have any knowledge that the woman sought the abortion solely because of the sex or race of the unborn child.
Any physician or other person who violates the provisions of this bill shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor and subject to civil liability and revocation of his or her professional license.
This bill is the same as SB 724 (2018) and SB 96 (2017) and similar to SB 802 (2016).
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that the right to life is fundamental and that an abortion based on race, gender, or down syndrome status is discrimination.
Testifying for the bill were Representative Dogan; Todd Mayfield; Elijah Mayfield; Mart Staggs; Yvonne S. Rottjakob; Jane Britton; Carol Fay; Karen Leydens; Bev Ehlen, Concerned Women for America of Missouri; Stephanie Jacobson; Sandra Ballenger; Erma Stogsdill; Lois Hogan; Leslie Kerns, Pregnancy Help Center; Ryan Gallager; and Missouri Right To Life.
OPPONENTS: Those who oppose the bill say that this bill does not address the root causes of abortions and it discriminates against women of color.
Testifying against the bill were Kadie Tannehill; Juliet Salith, Coalition for Truth in Independence; Jaclyn Dean, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, National Latina Institute For Reproductive Health, In Our Voice, and Black Women's Health Imperative; Rachel Goldberg; American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri; Naral Pro-Choice Missouri; Planned Parenthood Advocates In Missouri; and Yvonne Treece, MD.