Republican-led Missouri legislators on Wednesday approved a bill that would be the most restrictive abortion law in the country, in response to recent measures in East Coast states that would allow late-term procedures, the speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives said.

“We watched what happened to New York and Virginia, and it was somewhat of a call to action,” Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr told The Washington Times in a telephone interview. “The goal of this underlying bill is to protect the unborn in this state.”

House Bill 126 combines nearly every abortion restriction that lawmakers have proposed in recent years. It would ban the procedure when a fetal heartbeat can be detected (typically after six weeks of pregnancy), when a fetus can feel pain (generally around 20 weeks) and for selective reasons involving the fetus’ race, gender or diagnosis of Down syndrome. The bill also would require both parents to be notified before a minor receives an abortion.

Declaring that “God is the author of life,” the legislation cites a state law that establishes brain activity as a sign of life to ban abortion if brainwaves are detected (generally at eight weeks). And it includes a so-called “trigger clause” that automatically would ban all abortions, except for in medical emergencies, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade.

“This is the strongest piece of pro-life legislation in our nation,” state Rep. Nick Schroer said during a press conference after the bill was approved.

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/feb/27/missouri-abortion-bill-126-called-strongest-pro-li