No exceptions for rape, incest in Missouri abortion ‘trigger ban’

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade means immediate action in Missouri where a “trigger ban” took effect Friday morning, prohibiting abortion in the state in almost all situations.

The newly certified law makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

The state’s action, as well as the Supreme Court’s opinion, motivated protests across the country, including in Kansas City’s Mill Creek Park.

The rally started at about 5 p.m. with some saying, with the leaked draft of the decision, they knew this was coming. But it actually happening followed by the state’s immediate action is a gut-punch they said criminalizes health care.

The abortion “trigger ban” was certified, separately, by both Gov. Mike Parson and the Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt. Parson said the action would be a part of his legacy.

“I’m a pro-life guy. I’m fine with that. That’s what I believe in. I’ve said that all along. I don’t think that’s nothing new. I think you have…believe in both of those issues. It’s very divisive,” Parson said.

Describing the decision as “divisive” puts it lightly for Planned Parenthood Great Plains President and CEO Emily Wales who wrote, “250 years ago, our country’s founders said, ‘All men are created equal.’ Today, the Supreme Court took the ‘men’ part literally, stripping rights from every woman in America.”

Kansas City-area Congressman Emanuel Cleaver agrees.

“There’s a level of anger and hostility rising in Missouri. Certainly in Northwest Missouri from the Supreme Court decision. It’s been rising for a while now,” Cleaver said.

“The other part of it is that we are going to see more deaths of women who are still going to try to get an abortion. The only thing that’s going to happen now is that the poorer women are going to go to some of the old dangerous ways of getting an abortion,” Cleaver said.

But anti-abortion advocates applauded the decision, including the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

“The diocese stands ready to meet the increased demand for resources that may result with an renewed focus on alternatives to abortion,” the diocese said in a statement.

Parson, however, struck an interesting tone while talking about abortion, noting that the procedure is still accessible to Missourians who can travel to other states.

“But the one thing about it is you’re not doing away with it either. We may be in the state but there’s other places to go if people want to do that. But right now, this is something a lot of us have worked real hard for,” Parson said.

“The opinion of the Supreme Court is the opinion. Just like it was when it happened the other way. I hope people respect this one and behave accordingly,” Parson said.

The other exceptions that would allow for an abortion are medical emergencies that threaten the life of the pregnant person or medical emergencies that would “create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman,” according to the law.