Rules regarding abortions, issues of maternal health in Missouri questioned

To the Editor:

Abortion has always been a hot topic and is especially so in Missouri right now. I have never been 100% pro-abortion, but the overturning of Roe vs. Wade by the Supreme Court and the enaction of one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation have caused me to rethink my position.

Before June 24, 2022, when the MO abortion ban took effect, the state already had some of the strictest abortion laws. On Jan. 1, 1988, Missouri’s personhood law took effect which broadly defines life as beginning “at conception” and says that every “unborn child at every stage of development” is afforded “all the rights, privileges, and immunities available for other persons, citizens, and residents” of the state. Essentially, the developing fetus has the same rights as the living, breathing human carrying it.

The abortion ban enacted on June 24, 2022, along with the law cited above, protects the life of the unborn above that of the mother. The law states “no abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman, except in cases of medical emergency.” The law does not make any attempt to define what medical issues or situations constitute a medical emergency. When doctors asked then Attorney General Eric Schmitt for clarification, they were told that it was being left up to local prosecuting attorneys to decide whether or not a situation was indeed a medical emergency.

Missouri requires an affirmative defense meaning the medical provider has to prove in court that an abortion met the criteria for a medical emergency. It is no wonder that OB-GYNs are leaving Missouri, exacerbating an already existing shortage of doctors and accessibility to maternal healthcare in the state.

In short, the law takes medical decisions out of the hands of the pregnant person, her partner, and medical provider and puts them in the hands of lawyers. Women needing timely treatment for an ectopic pregnancy, an incomplete miscarriage, or other medical issues have to wait until a lawyer decides her life is sufficiently in danger before the doctor can provide that treatment.

Missouri ranks 44th for maternal mortality; this means that only six other states have a higher rate of maternal mortality than Missouri. In 2023, the March of Dimes released its report card for the state in the areas of maternal and infant health. Missouri received a grade of D-. The March of Dimes uses a Maternal Vulnerability Index to rate each state on six factors effecting maternal and infant health: Socioeconomic Determinants, Physical Health, General Healthcare, Physical Environment, Mental Health and Substance Abuse and Reproductive Health Care. Each factor is rated from zero (the best) to 100 (the worst). Missouri scored 74 to 90 on five of the six factors. A map showing how each county in Missouri was rated on the MVI showed almost every county in Southeast MO in the 90 to 100 range.

Last year, Governor Parson stated he was embarrassed by these statistics and that Missouri should do a better job of taking care of its mothers and children. In December 2023, he announced the Department of Health and Senior Services will release $4.3 million to tackle the problem. That’s all well and good, but I am not optimistic about things changing for the better as long as lawyers and lawmakers are making our medical decisions for us.

There is currently a petition drive in Missouri to get a constitutional amendment on the November ballot so all Missourians can vote on this issue. The amendment is a more equitable and balanced proposal protecting the unborn and at the same time putting maternal healthcare decisions back in the hands of the pregnant person and her doctor. You can read the amendment at moconstitutionalfreedom.org.

Jean Turner Cross

Poplar Bluff