Three Missouri lawmakers - all women and Democrats - said this week they'll sponsor bills to remove some of the state's laws regulating abortions, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned similar laws from Texas.
The St. Louis area lawmakers - Sens. Jamilah Nasheed and Jill Schupp and Rep. Stacey Newman - acknowledged Wednesday their goal will be an uphill battle in a Legislature dominated by pro-life Republicans.
"The people who elected us are pro-life. I am pro-life. That's part of our platform," Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard told the News Tribune Thursday. "I don't intend to move forward with Sen. Schupp's plan."
Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, told reporters Wednesday their goal is "to make sure that we change the laws back in the state of Missouri to help insure a woman's access to legal and safe abortions."
The main issues, Schupp and the others said, are Missouri's laws that require abortion clinics to be classified as "ambulatory surgical centers" and meet the state regulations for those facilities, and that require physicians performing abortions at those clinics to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic.
Laura Swinford, director of Progress Missouri, which hosted the conference call, said the high court's ruling last month "found both of these requirements to be unconstitutional in Texas, because they provide no medical benefits and frankly, they create incredible burdens to even access safe, legal abortions."
In its 5-3, June 27 ruling that Texas' similar laws were unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court noted the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortions in the U.S. included a finding the "State has a legitimate interest in seeing to it that abortion is performed under circumstances that insure maximum safety for the patient."
But, the court reminded, another ruling held statute erecting substantial obstacles to a woman's choice "cannot be considered a permissible means of serving its legitimate ends."
Newman, D-Clayton, said the Supreme Court's monumental ruling "will help us in terms of fighting any additional restriction bills that are filed next year - because the Supreme Court decision states very clearly that abortion is not just a constitutional-protected procedure, but that it is safe, which we've known through the medical profession for a long time."
Nasheed, D-St. Louis, added: "For as long as I have been in Jefferson City, the right wing extremists have been in opposition to women's right to choose."
And, even though abortion opponents include many women in and outside the General Assembly, Nasheed said the abortion restriction bills in the Legislature "are coming from men trying to tell women how to use their bodies and when to use their bodies. Women know what they want to do. They know if they want to have an abortion."
Samuel Lee, a long-time pro-life lobbyist and director of Campaign Life Missouri, said in a post on Facebook: "We will do everything we can to stop those who would attempt to remove protections for pregnant women who are considering abortion.
"Missouri's laws are designed to protect both women AND their unborn children."
He wasn't available to comment further for this story.
The three lawmakers noted legal challenges to Missouri's existing laws also may happen in light of the high court ruling.
Schupp said she and other colleagues also are looking to erase other Missouri restrictions to abortion access, like the 72-hour waiting period between a first visit to the doctor and undergoing an abortion, that the Legislature passed a couple years ago.